The oxidation of H2CO on a copper(110) surface

The oxidation of H₂C¹⁶O by adsorbed ¹⁸O was studied on an Cu(110) sample by temperature programmed reaction spectroscopy. Formaldehyde exchanged its oxygen with surface ¹⁸O upon adsorption to yield H₂C¹⁸O_(a) and ¹⁶O_(a). Formaldehyde was also oxidized by surface ¹⁶O and ¹⁸O atoms to H₂COO which subsequently released one of the hydrogen atoms to form HCOO. The evolution of H₂ from the Cu(110) surface was desorption limited, and the low pre-exponential factor for the recombination of the surface hydrogen atoms suggested stringent requirement on the trajectories of the colliding partners. The formate was very stable and dissociated at elevated temperatures to simultaneously yield H₂ and CO₂. The surface concentration of ¹⁸O exerted a pronounced affect on the activity of the oxidation of formaldehyde on Cu(110).