Adsorption of Thiophene on Silica-supported Mo Clusters

Journal Article · Thu Jul 15 04:00:00 EDT 2010 · Surface Science

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1016/j.susc.2010.04.008· OSTI ID:985828

Komarneni, M; Lu, M; Kadossov, E; Justin, J; Burghaus, U

The adsorption/decomposition kinetics/dynamics of thiophene has been studied on silica-supported Mo and MoS{sub x} clusters. Two-dimensional cluster formation at small Mo exposures and three-dimensional cluster growth at larger exposures would be consistent with the Auger electron spectroscopy (AES) data. Thermal desorption spectroscopy (TDS) indicates two reaction pathways. H{sub 4}C{sub 4}S desorbs molecularly at 190-400 K. Two TDS features were evident and could be assigned to molecularly on Mo sites, and S sites adsorbed thiophene. Assuming a standard preexponential factor ({nu} = 1 x 10{sup 13}/s) for first-order kinetics, the binding energies for adsorption on Mo (sulfur) sites amount to 90 (65) kJ/mol for 0.4 ML Mo exposure and 76 (63) kJ/mol for 2 ML Mo. Thus, smaller clusters are more reactive than larger clusters for molecular adsorption of H{sub 4}C{sub 4}S. The second reaction pathway, the decomposition of thiophene, starts at 250 K. Utilizing multimass TDS, H{sub 2}, H{sub 2}S, and mostly alkynes are detected in the gas phase as decomposition products. H{sub 4}C{sub 4}S bond activation results in partially sulfided Mo clusters as well as S and C residuals on the surface. S and C poison the catalyst. As a result, with an increasing number of H{sub 4}C{sub 4}S adsorption/desorption cycles, the uptake of molecular thiophene decreases as well as the H{sub 2} and H{sub 2}S production ceases. Thus, silica-supported sulfided Mo clusters are less reactive than metallic clusters. The poisoned catalyst can be partially reactivated by annealing in O{sub 2}. However, Mo oxides also appear to form, which passivate the catalyst further. On the other hand, while annealing a used catalyst in H/H{sub 2}, it is poisoned even more (i.e., the S AES signal increases). By means of adsorption transients, the initial adsorption probability, S{sub 0}, of C{sub 4}H{sub 4}S has been determined. At thermal impact energies (E{sub i} = 0.04 eV), S{sub 0} for molecular adsorption amounts to 0.43 {+-} 0.03 for a surface temperature of 200 K. S{sub 0} increases with Mo cluster size, obeying the capture zone model. The temperature dependence of S{sub 0}(T{sub s}) consists of two regions consistent with molecular adsorption of thiophene at low temperatures and its decomposition above 250 K. Fitting S{sub 0}(T{sub s}) curves allows one to determine the bond activation energy for the first elementary decomposition step of C{sub 4}H{sub 4}S, which amounts to (79 {+-} 2) kJ/mol and (52 {+-} 4) kJ/mol for small and large Mo clusters, respectively. Thus, larger clusters are more active for decomposing C{sub 4}H{sub 4}S than are smaller clusters.

• Research Organization: Brookhaven National Laboratory (BNL) Center For Functional Nanomaterials
• Sponsoring Organization: Doe - Office Of Science
• DOE Contract Number: AC02-98CH10886
• OSTI ID: 985828
• Report Number(s): BNL--93922-2010-JA; KC020401H
• Journal Information: Surface Science, Journal Name: Surface Science Journal Issue: 13-14 Vol. 604; ISSN SUSCAS; ISSN 0039-6028
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

77 NANOSCIENCE AND NANOTECHNOLOGY
ACTIVATION ENERGY
ADSORPTION
AES
ALKYNES
ANNEALING
AUGER ELECTRON SPECTROSCOPY
CATALYSTS
DESORPTION
KINETICS
OXIDES
PROBABILITY
PRODUCTION
SPECTROSCOPY
SULFUR
TDS
TEMPERATURE DEPENDENCE
THIOPHENE
TRANSIENTS
adsorption transients
desulfurization
dynamics
functional nanomaterials
kinetics
silica
thiophene