A theoretical study of surface-structural sensitivity of the reverse water-gas shift reaction over Cu( hkl) surfaces

Abstract

The surface-structural sensitivity of the reverse water-gas shift (RWGS) reaction (CO 2 + H 2 → CO + H 2O) over the Cu(1 1 1), Cu(1 0 0), and Cu(1 1 0) surfaces has been studied by first-principle density functional calculations together with the UBI-QEP approach. Cluster models of the surface have been employed to simulate the adsorption of CO 2, H 2, H, O, OH, CO, and H 2O on the Cu( hkl) surfaces at low coverage. This sensitivity is determined by the difference in the activation barriers. It can be noticed that the most likely rate-determining step in RWGS reaction is the CO 2 dissociative adsorption, namely CO 2,g → CO s + O s. The trend in the calculated activation barriers for the reaction of CO 2 dissociative adsorption follows the order of Cu(1 1 0) < Cu(1 0 0) < Cu(1 1 1), suggesting that the most efficient crystal surface for catalyzing RWGS reaction by copper is Cu(1 1 0), and the more densely packed Cu(1 1 1) surface is the least active among the Cu( hkl) surfaces studied here. As expected, the activation barriers for the recombinative reactions over Cu( hkl) are in the order of Cu(1 1 0) > Cu(1 0 0) > Cu(1 1 1), just opposite to the dissociative reactions. The interesting thing is that there is a good correlation between the adsorption bond length and the adsorption energy: The preferred adsorption site is the one with the shortest adsorption bond length. The present calculations are in good agreement with experimental observations.