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44179-AC5
Chemistry of Thin Gold Films on Titania

Charles Buddie Mullins, University of Texas (Austin)

This has been a very productive year for us and our ACS-PRF grant has greatly assisted us in carrying out our research goals. We have studied the catalytic chemistry of gold and found several interesting phenomena. Most notably, we have made contributions to unraveling the effect of moisture (i.e., adsorbed water) on the oxidation of CO on gold. In particular, we have experimentally shown that water will dissociate on gold in the presence of adsorbed atomic oxygen and, further, that hydroxyl groups adsorbed to the surface can effectively oxidize CO to carbon dioxide. Motivated by these findings we have also studied the selective oxidation of ammonia on oxygen pre-covered gold and found that at low oxygen coverages ammonia decomposes to di-nitrogen very selectively. This last study was highlighted in Chemical and Engineering News (weekly journal of the ACS).

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