Analysis of Preferred Mechanisms of CO Oxidation with Atomically Dispersed Pt1/TiO2 Using the Energetic Span Model

This work examines the mechanisms of low-temperature CO oxidation with atomically dispersed Pt on rutile TiO2 (110) using density functional theory and the energetic span model (ESM). Of the 13 distinct pathways spanning Eley-Rideal (ER), termolecular ER (TER), Langmuir-Hinshelwood(LH), Mars-Van Krevelen (MvK) mechanisms as well as their combinations, TER with CO-assisted CO2 desorption yields the highest turnover frequency (TOF). However, this pathway is ruled out because Pt is dynamically unstable in an intermediate state in the TER cycle, determined in a prior ab initio molecular dynamics study by our group. We instead find that a previously neglected pathway – the ER mechanism – is the most plausible CO oxidation route based on agreement with experimental TOFs and turnover-determining states. The preferred mechanism is sensitive to temperature, with LH becoming more favorable than ER and TER above 750 K. By comparing TOFs for Pt1/TiO2 with prior mechanistic studies of various oxide-supported atomically dispersed catalysts in the literature, we also attempt to identify the most viable metal and support materials for CO oxidation.