We have studied the trends in CO adsorption on close-packed metal surfaces: Co, Ni, Cu from the 3d row, Ru, Rh, Pd, Ag from the 4d row and Ir, Pt, Au from the 5d row using density functional theory. In particular, we were concerned with the trends in the adsorption energy, the geometry, the vibrational properties and other parameters derived from the electronic structure of the substrate. The influence of specific changes in our setup such as choice of the exchange correlation functional, the choice of pseudopotential and size of the basis set, substrate relaxation has been carefully evaluated. We found that while the geometrical and vibrational properties of the adsorbate-substrate complex are calculated with high accuracy, the adsorption energies calculated with the gradient-corrected Perdew-Wang exchange-correlation energies are overestimated. In addition, the calculations tend to favour adsorption sites with higher coordination, resulting in the prediction of wrong adsorption sites for the Rh, Pt and Cu surfaces (hollow instead of top). The revised Perdew-Burke-Erzernhof functional (RPBE) leads to lower (i.e. more realistic) adsorption energies for transition metals, but to wrong results for noble metals -for Ag and Au endothermic adsorption is predicted. The site preference remains the same. We discuss trends in relation to the electronic structure of the substrate across the Periodic Table, summarizing the state-of-the-art of CO adsorption on close-packed metal surfaces.

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Ab initio local-spin-density calculations for the adsorption of O 2 on Pt(111) are presented. We identify two distinct, but energetically almost degenerate chemisorbed precursors. A superoxolike paramagnetic precursor is formed at the bridge site, with the molecule parallel to the surface. A second peroxolike nonmagnetic precursor is formed in the threefold hollow, with the atom slightly canted in a top-hollow-bridge geometry. The nature of the barrier for dissociation into atoms adsorbed in the hollows is explored. [S0031-9007(97)

The laser-induced movement of CO molecules over a platinum surface was followed in real time by means of ultrafast vibrational spectroscopy. Because the CO molecules bound on different surface sites exhibit different C-O stretch vibrational frequencies, the site-to-site hopping, triggered by excitation with a laser pulse, can be determined from subpicosecond changes in the vibrational spectra. The unexpectedly fast motion--characterized by a 500-femtosecond time constant--reveals that a rotational motion of the CO molecules, rather than pure translation, is required for this diffusion process. This conclusion is corroborated by density functional theory calculations.

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