Dinitrogen: a selective probe for tri-coordinate Al "defect" sites on alumina
Raphael Wischert1, Christophe Copéret, Françoise Delbecq
1ETH Zürich, Department of Chemistry, Wolfgang-Pauli Strasse 10, CH-8093, Zürich, Switzerland.
Abstract:
Dinitrogen selectively binds to tri-coordinate Al(III) sites of the (110) termination of γ- and δ-alumina, the "defects" responsible for the low temperature dissociation of methane. Similar observations on η-Al(2)O(3) and extra framework aluminium of microporous aluminosilicates also suggest the presence of Al(III) sites on these materials.


