Stripping voltammetry of carbon monoxide oxidation on stepped platinum single-crystal electrodes in alkaline solution

The electrochemical oxidation of a CO adlayer on Pt[n(111)x(111)] electrodes, with n = 30, 10, and 5, Pt(111), Pt(110) as well as a Pt(553) electrode (with steps of (100) orientation) in alkaline solution (0.1 M NaOH) has been studied using stripping voltammetry. On these electrodes, it is possible to distinguish CO oxidation at four different active oxidation sites on the surface, i.e. sites with (111), (110) and (100) orientation, and kink sites. The least active site for CO oxidation is the (111) terrace site. Steps sites are more active than the (111) terrace sites, the (110) site oxidizing CO at lower potential than the (100) site. The CO oxidation feature with the lowest overpotential (oxidation potential as low as 0.35 V vs. RHE) was ascribed to oxidation of CO at kink sites. The amount of CO oxidized at the active step or kink sites vs. the amount of CO oxidized at the (111) terrace sites depends on the concentration of the active sites and the time given for the terrace-bound CO to reach the active site. By performing CO stripping on the stepped surfaces at different scan rates, the role of CO surface diffusion is probed. The possible role of electronic effects in explaining the unusual activity and dynamics of CO adlayer oxidation in alkaline solution is discussed.     

The influence of anions and kink structure on the enantioselective electro-oxidation of glucose

The electro-oxidation of glucose in sulfuric acid using well-defined chiral platinum single crystal electrodes has been demonstrated previously to be an enantioselective reaction with the degree of enantioselectivity being dependent on the surface density of kink sites. The chirality of the surface originates from the microstructure of the kink site whereby the sequence of the three fundamental adsorption sites [111], [100] and [110] constituting the kink may be viewed from the electrolyte phase either in a clockwise (R-enantiomer) or anti-clockwise (S-enantiomer) fashion. In the present study, this work is extended to examine the role of both kink structure and specifically adsorbed anions on the mechanism of chiral discrimination. Kinked surfaces based on [111] terraces (Pt[976],Pt[643] and Pt[531]),[100] terraces (Pt[721]) and [110] terraces (Pt[11,7,1] and Pt[841]) have been investigated and both the magnitude and potential dependence of the enantioselective electro-oxidation of glucose characterised. Additionally, the changes engendered by interchanging the character of the two steps whose confluence form the kink whilst maintaining the symmetry of the terrace has also been examined via a comparison of Pt[643] and Pt[431]. Low energy electron diffraction (LEED) was used to confirm that all surfaces when clean and thermally annealed were in their (1 x 1) state. Cyclic voltammetry (CV) confirmed this finding for flame-annealed electrodes after cooling in hydrogen. Three general points emerge from the electro-oxidation studies: (i) The highest degree of enantioselectivity is exhibited by kink sites adjacent to [111] and [110] terraces in sulfuric acid. (ii) The adsorption of specifically adsorbed anions like bisulfate/sulfate influences strongly the chiral discriminatory behaviour of all surfaces. (iii) No electro-oxidation takes place at [110] sites, as evidenced by complete overlap of the [110] step hydrogen underpotential deposition (UPD) charge in glucose and glucose-free solutions. Nonetheless it is deduced that [110] sites must play some part in the initial orienting of the glucose molecule prior to reaction. Ideas based on these findings are developed in order to rationalise in particular the influence of anion adsorption on the initial enantioselective interaction of the glucose molecule with the chiral surface.     

Tellurium adatoms as an in-situ surface probe of (111) two-dimensional domains at platinum surfaces

Irreversibly adsorbed tellurium has been studied as a probe to quantify ordered domains in platinum electrodes. The surface redox process of adsorbed tellurium on the Pt(111) electrode and Pt(111) stepped surfaces takes place around 0.85 V in a well-defined peak. The behavior of this redox process on the Pt(111) vicinal surfaces indicates that the tellurium atoms involved in the redox process are only those deposited on the (111) terrace sites. Moreover, the corresponding charge density is proportional to the number of sites on (111) ordered domains (terraces) that are, at least, three atoms wide. Hence, this charge density can be used to measure the number of (111) terrace sites on any given platinum sample. Structural information about tellurium adsorption is obtained from atomic-resolution STM images for the Pt(111) and Pt(10, 10, 9) electrodes. A rectangular structure (2 x radical 3) and a compact hexagonal structure (11 x 8) were identified. However, the redox peak for adsorbed tellurium on (100) domains at 1.03 V overlaps with peaks arising from steps and (110) sites. Therefore, it cannot be used without problems for the determination of (100) sites on a platinum sample. On the (100) terraces, the surface structure of the adsorbed tellurium is c(2 x 2), as revealed by STM. Finally, tellurium irreversible adsorption has been used to estimate the number of (111) ordered domains terrace sites on different polycrystalline platinum samples, and the results are compared to those obtained with bismuth irreversible adsorption.     

Electrocatalytic properties of Pt(111), Pt(332), Pt(331) and Pt(110) single crystal electrodes towards ethylene glycol oxidation in sulphuric acid solutions

In the present paper four platinum single crystal electrodes, two basal planes of Pt(111) and Pt(110) and two stepped surfaces of Pt(332) and Pt(331), were prepared and used in the study of electro-oxidation of ethylene glycol (EG). All of these Pt single crystal electrodes belong to the [1 0] zone of crystallography, and exhibit on their surface (111) symmetry sites or certain combinations of terraces of (111) symmetry with steps of (111) symmetry type. It has been found that as a result of a favourable steric matching of surface sites the Pt(110) electrode manifested a higher activity both for EG dissociative adsorption and oxidation than that of the Pt(111) electrode. The stepped surfaces of Pt(332) and Pt(331) operated with certain combinations of characteristics of Pt(111) and Pt(110). The best electrocatalytic properties have been obtained with a Pt(331) electrode, and this is attributed both to the configuration of the atomic arrangement and to the stability of this surface.In summary, the above results show that the performance of a given Pt single crystal electrode in EG oxidation at a potential below 1.0 V may be evaluated by three factors.

1. (1) The ability to resist self-poisoning (AB) which describes the difficulty of EG dissociative adsorption on the electrode surface.

2. (2) The activity for EG oxidation (AC). In considering that the threshold potential for EG oxidation on all electrodes is at 0.3 V and that the self-poisoning is encountered in PGPS, the activity for EG oxidation may be reasonably characterized by the intensity of the peak current acquired in NGPS near 0.6 V, which corresponds to the maximum current of EG oxidation on an activated (non-poisoned) surface of the electrode.

3. (3) The stability of activity during potential cycling (SA) between 0.05 and 1.0 V, which describes the resistance to the decrease of intensity of the EG oxidation current during voltammetric cycling.

For the two basal planes studied, the AB and SA of Pt(111) are higher than those of Pt(110), but its AC is much lower than that of Pt(110). These differences are clearly related to the surface atomic arrangement of the two electrodes. As has been discussed above, the surface of Pt(111) is atomically smooth and stable during voltammetric cycling. The surface of Pt(110) presents, however, atomic steps and is reconstructed under experimental conditions, i.e. certain steric configurations are encountered on the Pt(110) surface. The high AC and the low AB may be assigned to a favourite stereographic matching during EG adsorption and oxidation on Pt(110).The two electrodes with stepped surfaces, Pt(332) and Pt(331), contain different densities of (110) sites, which are formed on the border between terrace and step, as shown in Fig. 8. The AB of these two electrodes has been observed at a moderate range between that of Pt(111) and the AB of Pt(110). With a majority of (111) sites on its surface, the electrode of Pt(332) operates at a relatively higher AC than Pt(111) does, and its SA is not as good as that of Pt(111) but is much better than the SA of a Pt(110) electrode. In all cases the highest AC and SA are obtained with a Pt(331) electrode. It may be seen from the profile of a (331) plane (shown by the cross-section of A-A in Fig. 8) that all atoms on the top of the surface participated in forming (110) sites, and the atom on the step has two functions — one is to form a (110) site with an atom located in the terrace of second layer and the other is to form a (111) site in the terrace of the same layer. It has been mentioned in the above discussions that the Pt(110) electrode keeps a higher AC due to favourite stereographic matching in EG adsorption and oxidation, but its SA is the worst, due to the instability of the surface. The highest AC and SA obtained with Pt(331) may be ascribed not only to the high density of (110) sites existing on the surface, but also to the stabilization of these (110) sites, and moreover, the synergy generated by the atomic arrangement of the Pt(331) surface may also contribute to the performance of the Pt(331) electrode.     

Structural effects of electrochemical oxidation of formic acid on single crystal electrodes of palladium

Structural effects on the rates of formic acid oxidation have been studied on Pd(111), Pd(100), Pd(110), and Pd(S)-[n(100) x (111)] (n = 2-9) electrodes in 0.1 M HClO4 containing 0.1 M formic acid with use of voltammetry. On the low index planes of Pd, the maximum current density of formic acid oxidation (jP) increases in the positive scan as follows: Pd(110) < Pd(111) < Pd(100). This order differs from that on the low index planes of Pt: Pt(111) < Pt(100) < Pt(110). Pd(S)-[n(100) x (111)] electrodes with terrace atomic rows n > or = 3 have almost the same jP as Pd(100), except Pd(911) n = 5. The value of jP on Pd(911) n = 5 is 20% higher than those of the other surfaces. Pd(311) n = 2, of which the first layer is composed of only step atoms, has the lowest jP in the Pd(S)-[n(100) x (111)] series. The adsorption geometry of the reaction intermediate (formate ion) is optimized by using density functional theory.     

Electrochemical behaviour of oxocarbons on single crystal platinum electrodes: Part V. Tetrahydroxy-p-benzoquinone in 0.5 M sulphuric acid medium

The electrochemical behaviour of tetrahydroxy-p-benzoquinone (THQ) on Pt(111), Pt(100) and Pt(110) surfaces has been studied in sulphuric acid solutions by cyclic voltammetry. The experimental results show that THQ is the oxocarbon having a lesser tendency to form CO-like species after adsorption on platinum surfaces. THQ is directly adsorbed on Pt(111) and Pt(100), although it is not stable and undergoes a slow reaction to CO adspecies on Pt(100) surfaces. Clear evidence of CO adspecies has been found only on Pt(100) electrodes.     

氢原子在Pt及Pt系双金属催化表面吸附的密度泛函理论研究

采用密度泛函理论(dFT)考察了Pt(100)、(110)、(111)三种表面氢原子的吸附行为, 计算了覆盖度为0.25 ML时氢原子在Pt 三种表面和M-Pt(111)双金属(M=Al, Fe, Co, Ni, Cu, Pd)上的最稳定吸附位、表面能以及吸附前后金属表面原子层间弛豫情况. 分析了氢原子在不同双金属表面吸附前后的局域态密度变化以及双金属表面d 带中心偏离费米能级的程度并与氢吸附能进行了关联. 计算结果表明, 在Pt(100), Pt(110)和Pt(111)表面, 氢原子的稳定吸附位分别为桥位、短桥位和fcc 穴位. 三种表面中以Pt(111)的表面能最低, 结构最稳定. 氢原子在不同M-Pt(111)双金属表面上的最稳定吸附位均为fcc 穴位, 其中在Ni-Pt 双金属表面的吸附能最低, Co-Pt 次之. 表明氢原子在Ni-Pt 和Co-Pt 双金属表面的吸附最稳定. 通过对氢原子在M-Pt(111)双金属表面吸附前后的局域态密度变化的分析, 验证了氢原子吸附能计算结果的准确性. 掺杂金属Ni、Co、Fe 的3d-Pt(111)双金属表面在吸附氢原子后发生弛豫, 第一层和第二层金属原子均不同程度地向外膨胀. 此外, 3d金属的掺入使得其对应的M-Pt(111)双金属表面d带中心与Pt 相比更靠近费米能级, 吸附氢原子能力增强, 表明3d-Pt系双金属表面有可能比Pt具有更好的脱氢活性.     

Fundamental aspects of HCOOH oxidation at platinum single crystal surfaces with basal orientations and modified by irreversibly adsorbed adatoms

Oxidation of formic acid at Pt(hkl) electrodes with basal orientations and modified by irreversibly adsorbed adatoms is revisited. It was shown that the adatoms of the nitrogen group enhance the electrocatalytic activity through long-range electronic effects in the case of Pt(111) substrates or through shorter third-body effects when adsorbed at Pt(100) electrodes. In both cases, it appears that free platinum sites were required. Special attention is given here to the reactivity at Pt(110) substrates. It is found that maximum electrocatalysis is observed at fully blocked surfaces. This result points out again structure sensitivity effects for this characteristic reaction. Unlike the more compact planes, in which the enhancement of the oxidation rate was explained through essentially rigid models for the adlayer, it is suggested that the resulting enhancement observed at Pt(110) substrates could be explained if some adatom mobility is considered.     

Electrochemical behaviour of Pt(100), Pt(111) and Pt polycrystalline surfaces in hydrogencarbonate solution

It was demonstrated that adsorbed CO is obtained from the reduction of NaHCO₃ solution when Pt(100), Pt(110), disordered Pt(111) and polycrystalline electrodes are employed. Reduction of CO₂ coming from the dissociation of the hydrogencarbonate anion is proposed as the reaction that produces CO. By using Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, linear and multi-bonded CO were detected on polycrystalline platinum electrodes. The shape of the band associated with linearly adsorbed CO is monopolar as a consequence of the partial overlapping, at lower wavenumbers, of the absolute bands at both potentials (0.05 and 0.35 V).     

Estimation of Surface Structure and Carbon Monoxide Oxidation Site of Shape‐Controlled Pt Nanoparticles

Surface structures of shape‐controlled Pt nanoparticles have been estimated using cyclic voltammetry (CV) and infrared reflection absorption spectroscopy (IRAS). Cubic and cuboctahedral Pt nanoparticles are prepared using a capping polymer. These nanoparticles give CVs similar to those of single crystal electrodes of Pt in sulfuric acid solution. The CV of cubic nanoparticles is similar to that of the Pt(510) [=5(100)–(110)] electrode, while the CV of cuboctahedral nanoparticles is reproduced well with the convolution of Pt(766) [=13(111)–(100)] and Pt(17 1 1) [=9(100)–(111)] electrodes. These results suggest that the planes of the cubic and cuboctahedral nanoparticles are composed of step‐terrace and atomically flat terraces, respectively. Adsorbed carbon monoxide (CO) on the shape‐controlled nanoparticles gives the IR bands that are assigned to on‐top and bridged CO. The band of on‐top CO is deconvoluted to two bands: the higher and the lower frequency bands are assigned to the CO on the plane and the edges of the nanoparticles, respectively. On‐top CO adsorbed on the edges is oxidized at more negative potential than that on the planes. Edge sites of the nanoparticles promote CO oxidation.     

氧原子在Pt(s)-[n(111)×(100)]型台阶面上的吸附和振动

应用原子和表面簇合物相互作用的5-参数Morse势(简称5-MP)方法系统地研究了氧-铂台阶面体系.理论结果表明:在Pt(s)-[n(111)×(100)]型台阶面上，氧原子吸附在台阶下的四重位，对应稳定吸附态β2；平台上靠近四重位的三重吸附态被湮灭，其它三重位对应吸附态β1；而且平台的长度对四重吸附态有影响.     

Dynamics of CO at the solid/liquid interface studied by modeling and simulation of CO electro-oxidation on Pt and PtRu electrodes

We consider theoretical models for CO monolayer oxidation on stepped Pt single-crystal electrodes and Ru-modified Pt(111) electrodes. For both systems, our aim is to assess the importance of CO surface diffusion in reproducing the experimental chronoamperometry or voltammetry. By comparing the simulations with the experimental chronoamperometric transients for CO oxidation on a series of stepped Pt surfaces, it was concluded that mixing of CO on the Pt(111) terrace is good, implying rapid diffusion (N. P. Lebedeva, M. T. M. Koper, J. M. Feliu and R. A. van Santen, J. Phys. Chem. B, submitted). We discuss here a more detailed model in which the CO adsorbed on steps is converted into CO adsorbed on terraces as the oxygen-containing species occupy the steps (as observed experimentally on stepped Pt in UHV), followed by a subsequent oxidation of the latter, to reproduce the observed chronoamperometry on stepped surfaces with a higher step density. On Ru-modified Pt(111), the experimentally observed splitting of the CO stripping voltammetry into two stripping peaks, may suggest a slow diffusion of CO on Pt(111). This apparent contradiction with the conclusions of the experiments on stepped surfaces, is resolved by assuming a weaker CO binding to a Pt atom which has Ru neighbors than to "bulk" Pt(111), in agreement with recent quantum-chemical calculations. This makes the effective diffusion from the uncovered Pt(111) surface to the perimeter of the Ru islands, which are considered to be the active sites in CO oxidation electrocatalysis on PtRu surfaces, very slow. Different models for the reaction are considered, and discussed in terms of their ability to explain experimental observations.     

Studies of CO adsorption on Pt(100), Pt(410), and Pt(110) surfaces using density functional theory

Adsorption of CO on Pt(100), Pt(410), and Pt(110) surfaces has been investigated by density functional theory (DFT) method (periodic DMol(3)) with full geometry optimization and without symmetry restriction. Adsorption energies, structures, and vibrational frequencies of CO on these surfaces are studied by considering multiple possible adsorption sites and comparing them with the experimental data. The same site preference as inferred experiments is obtained for all the surfaces. For Pt(100), CO adsorbs at the bridge site at low coverage, but the atop site becomes most favorable for the c(2 x 2) structure at 1/2 monolayer. For Pt(410) (stepped surface with (100) terrace and (110) step), CO adsorbs preferentially at the atop site on the step edge at 1/4 monolayer, but CO populates also at other atop and bridge sites on the (100) terrace at 1/2 monolayer. The multiple possible adsorption sites probably correspond to the multiple states in the temperature-programmed desorption spectra for CO desorption. For Pt(110), CO adsorbs preferentially at the atop site on the edge for both the reconstructed (1 x 2) and the un-reconstructed (1 x 1) surfaces. When adjacent sites along the edge row begin to be occupied, the CO molecules tilt alternately by ca. 20 degrees from the surface normal in opposite directions for both the (1 x 2) and (1 x 1) surfaces.     

Adsorption of formaldehyde on Pt(111) and Pt(100) electrodes: cyclic voltammetry and scanning tunneling microscopy

The adsorption of formaldehyde (HCHO) on Pt(111) and Pt(100) electrodes was examined by cyclic voltammetry (CV) and in situ scanning tunneling microscopy (STM) in 0.1 M HClO(4). The extent of HCHO adsorption at both Pt electrodes was evaluated by comparing the CVs, particularly for the hydrogen adsorption and desorption between 0.05 and 0.4 V, obtained in 0.1 M HClO(4) with and without HCHO. The adsorption of HCHO on these Pt electrodes was significant only when [HCHO] >/= 10 mM. Adsorbed organic intermediate species acted as poisons, blocking Pt surfaces and causing delays in the oxidation of HCHO. Compared to Pt(111), Pt(100) was more prone to poisoning, as indicated by a 200 mV positive shift of the onset of HCHO oxidation. However, Pt(100) exhibited an activity 3 times higher than that of Pt(111), as indicated by the difference in peak current density of HCHO oxidation. Molecular resolution STM revealed highly ordered structures of Pt(111)-( radical7 x radical7)R19.1 degrees and Pt(100)-( radical2 x radical2) in the potential region between 0.1 and 0.3 V. Voltammetric measurements further showed that the organic poisons produced by HCHO adsorption behaved differently from the intentionally dosed CO admolecules, which supports the assumption for the formation of HCO or COH adspecies, rather than CO, as the poison. On both Pt electrodes, HCHO oxidation commenced preferentially at step sites at the onset potential of this reaction, but it occurred uniformly at the peak potentials.     

CO organization at ambient pressure on stepped Pt surfaces: first principles modeling accelerated by neural networks

Step and kink sites at Pt surfaces have crucial importance in catalysis. We employ a high dimensional neural network potential (HDNNP) trained using first-principles calculations to determine the adsorption structure of CO under ambient conditions (T = 300 K and P = 1 atm) on these surfaces. To thoroughly explore the potential energy surface (PES), we use a modified basin hopping method. We utilize the explored PES to identify the adsorbate structures and show that under the considered conditions several low free energy structures exist. Under the considered temperature and pressure conditions, the step edge (or kink) is totally occupied by on-top CO molecules. We show that the step structure and the structure of CO molecules on the step dictate the arrangement of CO molecules on the lower terrace. On surfaces with (111) steps, like Pt(553), CO forms quasi-hexagonal structures on the terrace with the top site preferred, with on average two top site CO for one multiply bonded CO, while in contrast surfaces with (100) steps, like Pt(557), present a majority of multiply bonded CO on their terrace. Short terraced surfaces, like Pt(643), with square (100) steps that are broken by kink sites constrain the CO arrangement parallel to the step edge. Overall, this effort provides detailed analysis on the influence of the step edge structure, kink sites, and terrace width on the organization of CO molecules on non-reconstructed stepped surfaces, yielding initial structures for understanding restructuring events driven by CO at high coverages and ambient pressure.

A neural network potential trained using first-principles calculations enables to understand the adsorption configurations of carbon monoxide on stepped Pt surfaces at ambient pressure.     

Influence of Substrate Steps on the Catalytic Properties of Pt Layers: The Ethanol Electrooxidation Reaction

The ethanol oxidation reaction (EOR) is investigated on Pt/Au(hkl) electrodes. The Au(hkl) single crystals used belong to the [n(111)x(110)] family of planes. Pt is deposited following the galvanic exchange of a previously deposited Cu monolayer using a Pt²⁺ solution. Deposition is not epitaxial and the defects on the underlying Au(hkl) substrates are partially transferred to the Pt films. Moreover, an additional (100)‐step‐like defect is formed, probably as a result of the strain resulting from the Pt and Au lattice mismatch. Regarding the EOR, both vicinal Pt/Au(hkl) surfaces exhibit a behavior that differs from that expected for stepped Pt; for instance, the smaller the step density on the underlying Au substrate, the greater the ability to break the C?C bond in the ethanol molecule, as determined by in situ Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy measurements. Also, we found that the acetic acid production is favored as the terrace width decreases, thus reflecting the inefficiency of the surface array to cleave the ethanol molecule.     

氮原子在Ni平坦和缺陷表面上的吸附和振动

 构造了氮－镍相互作用的5－参数Morse势，研究了氮原子在Ni（\r\n100），Ni（110）和Ni（111）平坦表面的吸附和振动，获得了氮原子\r\n在三个低指数表面的吸附位、吸附构型、结合能和本征振动等数据，计\r\n算结果与实验结果非常吻合．同时，与Ni（100）表面对比，系统研究\r\n了氮原子在Ni（510）台阶面的吸附和扩散．计算结果表明，氮原子在\r\n台阶下部形成最稳定的吸附态，台阶对下台面上扩散的氮原子形成捕获\r\n势，对上台面上扩散的氮原子形成反射势．     

Ammonia selective oxidation on Pt(100) sites in an alkaline medium

The oxidation of ammonia on platinum surfaces is a structure sensitive reaction that takes place almost exclusively on Pt(100) sites. This report shows how dependent the activity is on different arrangements of (100) sites of platinum. The effect of two-dimensional domains has been addressed by using stepped surfaces having terraces with (100) geometry, either with (111) and (110) steps. The results were compared with those obtained from stepped surfaces having terraces with (111) or (110) symmetry and monatomic (100) steps, thus representing monodimensional (100) domains. The observed behavior confirms the extreme sensitivity of the reaction to the different arrangement of this type of square sites.     

Electrochemical and FTIRS characterisation of NO adlayers on cyanide-modified Pt(111) electrodes: the mechanism of nitric oxide electroreduction on Pt

We report here a study, using cyclic voltammetry and FTIRS, of NO irreversibly adsorbed on a cyanide-modified Pt(111) electrode. NO adlayers were formed by immersion of the cyanide-modified Pt(111) electrode in an acidic solution of KNO(2). The behaviour of NO adsorbed on the cyanide-modified electrode is very similar to that of NO on the clean Pt(111) surface, suggesting that adsorbed cyanide (saturation coverage theta(CN) = 0.5) behaves simply as a third body, blocking some of the surface sites but leaving the free Pt sites unaffected. Comparison of the voltammetric profile for NO electroreduction on Pt(111) and on cyanide-modified Pt(111) electrodes has allowed us: (i) to confirm that the reduction of three-fold hollow NO and atop NO on Pt(111) electrodes occurs in two distinct reduction peaks, as previously proposed by Rosca et al. (Langmuir, 2005, 21, 1448); (ii) to suggest that the reduction of irreversibly adsorbed NO layers on Pt electrodes can proceed through two possible paths, one involving an EE mechanism in which the rate-determining step (rds) is an Eley-Rideal reaction, with a direct proton transfer from the solution to adsorbed NO, and the other involving an EC mechanism in which the rds is a Langmuir-Hinshelwood reaction of adsorbed NO with adsorbed H. The availability of adsorbed hydrogen determines which path is followed by the reaction; (iii) to identify the smallest atomic ensemble for the reduction of NO on Pt as being composed of two adjacent Pt atoms.