Conversion of methanol at copper clusters on TiO₂(110) and SiO: direct dehydrogenation vs. partial oxidation and...

Copper is known to catalyze the conversion of methanol to formaldehyde in single crystal experiments. Here, we present a systematic study of methanol reactions at different-sized nanoparticulate copper clusters on rutile TiO₂(110) as well as a native silicon oxide film on a Si(111) wafer. By temperature-programmed reaction spectroscopy (TPRS), we have identified two different pathways, namely the direct dehydrogenation and in the presence of oxygen the partial oxidation to formaldehyde for large copper clusters. While the silica substrate is nonreactive, for rutile TiO₂(110) the competing conversion of methanol to methane dominates the formaldehyde formation, depending on the titania reduction degree. At the same time, the low-temperature formaldehyde formation at the highly reduced TiO₂(110) was not observed, suggesting the suppression of the dioxomethylene-like intermediate of this species at the surface. Concurrent with these reactions the high-temperature desorption of CO₂ was observed as a side-product on all substrates, which can be correlated with the formation of a formate intermediate decomposing into CO₂ and H₂ at elevated temperatures.