First-Principles Study of Carbon Monoxide Oxidation on Ag(111) in Presence of Subsurface Oxygen and Stepped Ag(221)

Abstract

The role of subsurface oxygen in Ag(111) and the step edge of vicinal Ag(221) on CO oxidation were studied by using density functional theory calculations. For high oxygen coverage, the formation of subsurface oxygen is not only energetically favorable but also kinetically likely. CO oxidation with on-surface atomic oxygen is facile with a barrier of about 0.16 eV, whereas the reaction with subsurface oxygen is hindered because of the significant barrier for diffusion of the subsurface oxygen to the surface from the subsurface region. It is found that the adsorption of molecules (CO, atomic O and O2) is stabilized in the presence of subsurface oxygen, and surface reactivity is enhanced. An energetically favorable reaction pathway for CO oxidation with O2 is identified, with a reaction barrier of 0.23 eV via a unique four-center Ο2···CΟ intermediate. A catalytic cycle for CO oxidation on Ag(111) in the presence of subsurface oxygen is proposed. On Ag(221) surfaces, our calculations show that both the adsor...