Structural Evolution of Ga-Cu Model Catalysts for CO₂ Hydrogenation Reactions

We studied the initial stages of Ga interaction with the Cu(001) surface and environment-induced surface transformations in an attempt to elucidate the surface chemistry of the Cu-Ga catalysts recently proposed for CO₂ hydrogenation to methanol. The results show that Ga readily intermixes with Cu upon deposition in vacuum. However, even traces of oxygen in the gas ambient cause Ga oxidation and the formation of two-dimensional ("monolayer") Ga oxide islands uniformly covering the Cu surface. The surface morphology and the oxidized state of Ga remain in H₂ as well as in a CO₂ + H₂ reaction mixture at elevated pressures and temperatures (0.2 mbar, 700 K). The results indicate that the Ga-doped Cu surface under reaction conditions exposes a variety of structures including GaO /Cu interfacial sites, which must be taken into account for elucidating the reaction mechanism.