The effect of thickness and phases of copper oxide films on methanol decomposition

Guan-Chen Liu^1*, Yi-Lin Li¹, Yu-Ling Lai², Li-Chung Yu², Hung-Wei Shiu², Yao-Jane Hsu², Meng-Fan Luo¹

¹Department of Physics, National Central University, Taoyuan, Taiwan
²National Synchrotron Radiation Research center, Hsinchu, Taiwan

* Presenter:Guan-Chen Liu, email:sb4512159@gmail.com

The varied phases and thickness of copper oxide films may change their interactions with adsorbates and further influence the reaction activity. We study how the varied thickness and phases alters the decomposition of methanol on pure copper oxide films, Au and Rh nanoclusters supported on the copper oxide films, with synchrotron-based photoelectron spectroscopy and temperature programmed desorption. The copper oxide films were grown on oxidation of Cu(110) single crystal; their thickness and phases were controlled by oxygen exposure and subsequent annealing procedures. The preliminary result shows that adsorbed methanol dehydrogenated and both formaldehyde and CO2 were produced on the copper oxide films; the activity was decreased with increasing thickness of the copper oxide films. This reaction path was not blocked by Au nanoclusters on the copper oxide films but by Rh ones. Further investigation was warranted to reveal detailed mechanisms.

Keywords: Copper Oxides, Cu(110), Metal Nanocluster, Methanol Decomposition