A method for studying the non-covalent binding of aromatic adsorbates to carbon-supported metal surfaces has been developed using attenuated total reflection infrared spectroscopy (ATR-IR) in effort to study the mechanistic repercussions of physical adsorption interactions at Pd/C and Ru/C surfaces. The strength of adsorbate binding was quantified by calculation of the changes in bond force constant, │Δk│, from the observed frequency shift for all of the adsorbates’ bonds. Asymmetric Lorentzian or Fano-type line shapes were observed in the spectra of surface-bound adsorbates. They were studied with mathematical line shape analysis and two-dimensional correlation spectroscopy. It was noticed that not all vibrational modes afforded identical peak asymmetry when the adsorbate was bound to the surface. A physical explanation as to the origin for this asymmetry in the context of IR spectroscopy and mathematical treatment of the line shape will be discussed.

Fano-type resonances detected at catalytic surfaces with ATR-IR

253rd National Meeting (2017)

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