The decomposition of methoxide, specifically the cleavage of C-H and C-O bonds, was studied by density functional calculations for various surfaces of the 1:1 PdZn alloy: (111), (100) and the stepped surface (221). For comparison, these reactions were also investigated on Pd(111) and Cu(111). On all three PdZn surfaces addressed, scission of C-H bonds was determined to be more favorable than breaking of the C-O bond. On flat PdZn surfaces, C-H bond cleavage of methoxide is slow, with activation barriers Ea of ~90 kJ/mol, but the reaction becomes much faster on the Pd step of PdZn(221) where Ea ~ 50 kJ/mol. On PdZn(111), dehydrogenation of formaldehyde is kinetically less favorable than its desorption. Overall, the reactivity of PdZn alloy surfaces of was found to be similar to that of the corresponding Cu surfaces. According to a thermodynamic analysis, OH is the most likely water-related species present on PdZn(111) under the conditions of methanol steam reforming.
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The decomposition of methoxide, specifically the cleavage of C-H and C-O bonds, was studied by density functional calculations for various surfaces of the 1:1 PdZn alloy: (111), (100) and the stepped surface (221). For comparison, these reactions were also investigated on Pd(111) and Cu(111). On all three PdZn surfaces addressed, scission of C-H bonds was determined to be more favorable than breaking of the C-O bond. On flat PdZn surfaces, C-H bond cleavage of methoxide is slow, with activation...
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