CO adsorption and
dissociation on “perfect” and “defect-rich”
Ir(111) surfaces were studied by a combination of surface-analytical
techniques, including polarization-dependent (PPP and SSP) sum frequency
generation (SFG) vibrational spectroscopy, low-energy electron diffraction
(LEED), Auger electron spectroscopy, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy
(XPS), and density functional theory (DFT) calculations. CO was found
to be ordered and tilted from the surface normal at high coverage
on the “perfect” surface (e.g., θ = 30° at
0.70 ML), whereas it was less ordered and preferentially upright (θ
= 4–10°) on the “defect-rich” surface for
coverages of 0.55–0.70 ML. SFG, LEED, and XPS revealed that
CO adsorption at low pressure/high temperature and high pressure/low
temperature was reversible. In contrast, upon heating to ∼600
K in near mbar CO pressure, “perfect” and even more
“defect-rich” Ir(111) surfaces were irreversibly modified
by carbon deposits, which, according to DFT, result from CO disproportionation.