Artificial control of selectivity for ethanol decomposition on a Ag catalyst by thickness-extensional mode resonance oscillation of z-cut LiNbO3

Thickness-extensional mode resonance oscillation (TERO), generated by radio frequency power on a thin Ag film catalyst deposited on a ferroelectric z-cut LiNbO3 single crystal, caused a marked enhancement of ethylene production without significant changes in acetaldehyde production in ethanol decomposition: selectivity for ethylene production increased from 58% without TERO to 96% at 5 W. The activation energy of ethylene production decreased remarkably with TERO-on. Laser Doppler measurements showed that the TERO produced an irregular pattern of lattice displacement up to 60 nm which is proposed to induce strong Ag metal–oxygen atom interactions, thus promoting oxygen abstraction from the adsorbed ethanol.