Decomposition of formic acid on copper, nickel, and copper-nickel alloys: IV. Temperature-programmed decomposition of bulk nickel formate and of formic acid preadsorbed on nickel powder

Abstract

Formic acid (HCOOH, 6 kPa) decomposes to H 2, and surface and bulk formate upon adsorption on Ni powder at room temperature. Formate species decompose at 300–450 K to CO 2, CO, H 2, and H 2O. The CO 2 to CO ratios (3.5–5.5) are similar to those measured during decomposition of bulk Ni formate (3.5–5.0), and catalytic HCOOH decomposition on Ni powder, Ni SiO 2 , and Ni Al 2O 3 (4.0–6.0). This suggests that the products of catalytic HCOOH decomposition on Ni arise from adsorbed formate species which decompose with a selectivity similar to that of bulk Ni formate. Structure insensitive paths seem to be preferred on fully covered surfaces.