This project, supported in the Analytical and Surface Chemistry Program, focusses on the preparation of a series of mixed transition metal oxide (TMO) surfaces and the characterization of their composition, redox states, and their gas absorption properties. TMOs are ubiquitous in nature and their gas adsorption properties are relevant to a range of heterogeneous catalytic reactions. During this three year continuing grant, Professor Marjorie A. Langell and her students at the University of Nebraska will prepare TMOs on well characterized single crystal substrates and crystalline epitaxies of rocksalt, spinel and corundum. Substrate-gas interactions will be studied by high resolution electron energy loss spectroscopy (HREELS), x-ray photoemission spectroscopy (XPS), low energy electron diffraction (LEEDS), thermal desorption mass spectrometry (TDMS), and Auger electron spectroscopy. This work will contribute to the understanding of important acid-base dependent catalytic processes that occur at TMO surfaces. Adsorbed gas molecules undergo catalytic reactions at the surfaces of transition metal oxides. These reactions are ubiquitous in nature. Professor Marjorie A. Langell and her students at the University of Nebraska will study these reactions under controlled conditions to better understand these important chemical reactions. The chemical focus of this work will be on the reactions of alcohols and organic acids on these catalytic surfaces and a broad range of surface sensitive instrumental methods will be used in this work.
