Physical Sciences and Mathematics Commons^™

Elucidation Of Active Sites For The Reaction Of Ethanol On Tio2/Au(111), David T. Boyle

Senior Honors Projects, 2010-2019

Obtaining a molecular-level understanding of the reaction of alcohols with heterogeneous model catalysts is critical for improving industrial catalytic processes, such as the production of H₂ from alcohols. Gold has been shown to be an excellent oxidation catalyst once oxygen is added to it. The use of reducible oxides provides a source of oxygen on Au(111) for the reaction of ethanol, which is easily regenerated in the presence of an oxygen background. In this work, ethanol operates as a probe molecule to investigate the role of Au(111), TiO₂ nanoparticles, and TiO₂/Auinterfacial surface sites on the catalytic …