Abstract
We have used a novel, high-pressure high-temperature scanning tunneling microscope, which is set up as a flow reactor, to determine simultaneously the surface structure and the reactivity of a Pt(110) model catalyst at semirealistic reaction conditions for CO oxidation. By controlled switching from a CO-rich to an -rich flow and vice versa, we can reversibly oxidize and reduce the platinum surface. The formation of the surface oxide has a dramatic effect on the production rate. Our results show that there is a strict one-to-one correspondence between the surface structure and the catalytic activity, and suggest a reaction mechanism which is not observed at low pressures.
- Received 19 March 2002
DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevLett.89.046101
©2002 American Physical Society
Collections
This article appears in the following collection:
Scanning Probe Microscopy: From Sublime to Ubiquitous
This collection marks the 35th anniversary of scanning tunneling microscopy (STM) and the 30th anniversary of atomic force microscopy (AFM). These papers, all published in the Physical Review journals, highlight the positive impact that STM and AFM have had, and continue to have, on physical science research. The papers included in the collection have been made free to read.
