CO oxidation over Ru(0 0 0 1) at near-atmospheric pressures: From chemisorbed oxygen to RuO2

RuO2(1 1 0) was formed on Ru(0 0 0 1) under oxygen-rich reaction conditions at 550 K and high pressures. This phase was also synthesized using pure O2 and high reaction temperatures. Subsequently the RuO2 was subjected to CO oxidation reaction at stoichiometric and net reducing conditions at near-atmospheric pressures. Both in situ polarization modulation infrared reflection absorption spectroscopy (PM-IRAS) and post-reaction Auger electron spectroscopy (AES) measurements indicate that RuO2 gradually converts to a surface oxide and then to a chemisorbed oxygen phase. Reaction kinetics shows that the chemisorbed oxygen phase has the highest reactivity due to a smaller CO binding energy to this surface. These results also show that a chemisorbed oxygen phase is the thermodynamically stable phase under stoichiometric and reducing reaction conditions. Under net oxidizing conditions, RuO2 displays high reactivity at relatively low temperatures (⩽450 K). We propose that this high reactivity involves a very reactive surface oxygen species, possibly a weakly bound, atomic oxygen or an active molecular O2 species. RuO2 deactivates gradually under oxidizing reaction conditions. Post-reaction AES measurements reveal that this deactivation is caused by a surface carbonaceous species, most likely carbonate, that dissociates above 500 K.