Decomposition of Carbon Tetrachloride on Gold Surfaces

Abstract

Banned for already 20 years, carbon tetrachloride is still used industrially. The ingestion of the halogen compound (inhalation, dermal contact, drinking) is known to induce serious damage to the liver, for which gold particles might represent one of the most efficient treatment. Here, using the temperature-programmed desorption technique, we show that carbon tetrachloride is decomposed by a polycrystalline gold surface producing Cl2 at a minimum rate of 25% of the deposited molecules. The adsorption and decomposition explored via density functional theory (DFT) periodic calculations show that a cooperative decomposition of a pairwise CCl4 is energetically favorable on the (110) surface. Our results may contribute to develop better strategies for optimizing the design of gold nanosurfaces and improve the efficiency of the treatment of the hepatotoxicity induced by carbon tetrachloride.