An Infrared Study of Formic Acid Adsorption on Co/SiO₂ and SiO₂ Surfaces

Abstract

It is demonstrated from an i.r. study of the adsorption of formic acid on a Co/SiO₂ catalyst that the adsorbates on the SiO₂ surface and on the cobalt metal clusters are respectively a physically bonded HCOOH molecule and a formate species. The former species is easily desorbed but the latter remains stable at least up to 523 K. The ratio of formate species to physically bonded HCOOH is approximately 2:1 for a catalyst with a cobalt loading of 5 wt %.