An EELS study of CO2 and CO3 adsorbed on oxygen covered Ag(110)

The vibrational spectra of CO₂ and CO₃ adsorbed on Ag(110) was studied with high-resolution electron energy-loss spectroscopy (EELS). CO₂ does not adsorb on the clean surface at 100 K. EELS results show that preadsorbed atomic oxygen can induce adsorption and reaction with CO₂ to form a stable surface carbonate as well as a molecular CO₂ binding state at 100 K. The latter desorbs at 130 K while CO₃ decomposes to CO_2(g) and O_(a) at 480 K as shown by both EELS and thermal desorption. The vibrational spectrum of CO_2(a) bears remarkable similarities with CO₂ gas; both the strong asymmetric stretch at 2350 cm^? and the Fermi resonance are seen. EELS measurements performed as a function of annealing temperature indicate that the carbonate species binds with one oxygen down and the other two up with respect to the surface. Additionally, an irreversible conversion between this form and that with two oxygens down does not occur.