Infrared characterization of surface species in non-vacuum environments

COLL 143

Francisco Zaera, Department of Chemistry, Department of Chemistry, University of California, Riverside, CA 92521
Examples from our laboratory on applications of infrared spectroscopy to the characterization of surface species in non-vacuum environments will be presented. In one, the adsorption of cinchona chiral modifiers from solution onto platinum catalytic surfaces is detailed by studies using in-situ reflection-absorption infrared spectroscopy (RAIRS) at the liquid-solid interface. Parameters such as adsorption geometry, reversibility of adsorption, and the effect of gases and solvents were investigated, and the adsorption behavior was correlated to catalytic properties. A second example deals with RAIRS studies of porphyrin self-assembled layers on gold and silicon surfaces. In this case a correlation was established between adsorption geometry and electrical properties as they apply to the design of molecular memory devices. In a final case, the characterization of palladium-supported catalysts for environmental uses is performed by transmission infrared spectroscopy, using carbon monoxide as a probe for the oxidation state of the metal after different treatments.