Forms of adsorption of methanol on anatase and directions of their transformation

The adsorption of methanol on titanium(IV) oxide in the anatase crystalline modification was investigated by IR spectroscopy and thermal desorption. It was established that coordinationally bonded alcohol and two types of methoxides are formed on the surface of the titanium dioxide (anatase). The adsorption centers of the methanol were found. The thermal stability and the degree of particípation in oxidation were determined for the surface structures of the adsorbed alcohol. The possibility of the conversion of the coordinationally bonded alcohol and the weakly bonded methoxyl into partial oxidation products and the strongly bonded methoxyl into total oxidation products was demonstrated. In the investigated system formate complexes at concentrations sufficient for detection by IR spectroscopy were only formed with the participation of the oxygen of the gas phase through further oxidation of the strongly bonded methoxyls.Translated from Teoreticheskaya i Éksperimental'naya Khimiya, Vol. 24, No. 6, pp. 707–712, November–December, 1988.The authors thank V. A. Gerasimova and S. K. Anan'in for assistance in the production of the experimental results.