This is a Presidential Young Investigator Award. Solid-state nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectroscopy is used to investigate the effects of common poison and promotor species on heterogeneous catalysts. The effects of species such as potassium or chlorine which are known to alter reaction behavior are being studied. In addition to NMR, the project involves catalyst preparation and characterization. Infrared, Raman, and microreactor studies are conducted. The initial system being investigated is a model adsorbate/coadsorbate/catalyst system consisting of carbon monoxide on potassium-doped rhodium on silica. The objective is to determine how a coadsorbent (e.g. potassium) alters the populations of the various types (bridged, linear, geminal) of adsorbed carbon monoxide on the metal. This is relevant to adsorption and reaction behavior and will be applicable to commercial processes such as methanation.
