90
Views
0
CrossRef citations to date
0
Altmetric
Original Articles

The influence of surface termination on the growth of copper clusters

, &
Pages 659-662 | Received 04 Oct 2010, Accepted 05 Jan 2011, Published online: 04 Jul 2011
 

Abstract

Oxide-supported transition metal catalysts are widely used in a variety of heterogeneous catalytic processes. Knowledge of the interaction of metals with oxide surfaces provides an insight into the understanding of a broad variety of properties of the catalysts. However, relatively little is known about the interfaces due to lack of experimental evidence. In our work, the interaction between copper clusters and α-alumina (0001) surface was studied using the density functional theory. It is found that the outermost Al atoms are the energetically preferred adsorption sites for Cu n (n = 1–3) clusters. Little effort has been made to investigate the environmental effect of the adsorption of Cu clusters on the α-alumina (0001) surface. We examined adsorption of Cu clusters on fully hydroxylated α-alumina surface and compared the results with that of the clean surface. The surface hydroxylation greatly weakens the adhesion of Cu clusters to the substrate. On the other hand, a hydrogen spillover reaction takes place to strengthen the Cu surface binding. The Cu–alumina system may serve as a prototype interface to help us gain knowledge of the growth pathway of supported metal clusters.

Notes

1. NIST Standard Reference Database 69: NIST Chemistry WebBook.

Log in via your institution

Log in to Taylor & Francis Online

PDF download + Online access

  • 48 hours access to article PDF & online version
  • Article PDF can be downloaded
  • Article PDF can be printed
USD 61.00 Add to cart

Issue Purchase

  • 30 days online access to complete issue
  • Article PDFs can be downloaded
  • Article PDFs can be printed
USD 827.00 Add to cart

* Local tax will be added as applicable

Related Research

People also read lists articles that other readers of this article have read.

Recommended articles lists articles that we recommend and is powered by our AI driven recommendation engine.

Cited by lists all citing articles based on Crossref citations.
Articles with the Crossref icon will open in a new tab.