Infrared studies of the effect of acetylene, hydrogen, and oxygen on CO adsorption on platinum hydrosols

Infrared spectra of CO-treated platinum hydrosols subsequently treated with acetylene, hydrogen, and oxygen reveal that v(CO)_ads decreases from 2070 cm⁻¹ with increasing gas-treatment time. This has been attributed to a reduction in the coverage of adsorbed CO. In Pt sol/CO/C₂H₂ systems, v(CO)_ads decreases to a limiting value of ca. 2060 cm⁻¹ after exposure to acetylene. In the Pt sol/CO/H₂ systems, v(CO)_ads decreases to ca. 2050 cm⁻¹ after exposure to hydrogen gas. The lower frequency in the Pt sol/CO/H₂ system has been attributed to CO adsorption on more active metal sites formed from the reduction of surface platinum oxides. Exposure of the CO-treated platinum hydrosols to O₂ gas was found to cause the eventual disappearance of the v(CO)_ads band in infrared spectra, which was attributed to oxidation of adsorbed CO to CO₂ by weakly bound surface layers of platinum oxides formed by the oxygen treatment.