Methanol oxidation on a Pt(111)–OH/O surface

The methanol oxidation on a hydroxylated Pt (Pt(111)–OH) surface has been investigated by means of infrared reflection absorption spectroscopy (IRAS) in ultra-high vacuum (UHV) and in acidic solution. The Pt(111)–OH surface in UHV was prepared by introducing water molecules on a Pt(111)–(2×2)–O surface and annealed at temperature higher than 160 K. Methanol was then, introduced to the Pt(111)–OH surface to show the dependence of the reaction intermediate on the annealing temperature. At an annealing temperature below 160 K, IR bands assignable to methanol overlayer were observed and no detectable intermediates, such as CO, formaldehyde and formate, were formed, suggesting that methanol molecules remain stable on Pt(111) surface without dissociation at this temperature region. At an annealing temperature above 160 K, on the other hand, CO and formate were observed. In addition, the oxidation of CO on Pt(111)–OH showed no sign of formate formation, indicating that formate is not derived from CO, but from a direct oxidation of methanol. Methanol oxidation was carried out in 0.1 mol dm−3 HClO4 solution on Pt(111) with a flow cell configuration and showed the formation of formate. These results indicate that the formate is the dominant non-CO intermediate both in UHV and in acidic solution, and the preadsorbed oxygen-containing species, in particular OH adsorbates, on Pt(111) surface plays a very important role in the formate formation process in methanol oxidation reaction.