Interactions between oxygen and gold surfaces are of fundamental importance in multiple and diverse areas of science and technology. In this work, a new oxygen-gold structure was observed spectroscopically and identified computationally in hydrogen peroxide decomposition over catalytic gold nanoparticles. The experimental measurements were performed using monodisperse 5, 50 and 400 nm gold particles supported on silica with liquid-phase hydrogen and deuterium peroxides at multiple pH values. Raman spectroscopic measurements show that on surfaces with coordinatively unsaturated gold atoms, two oxygen atoms preferentially share a gold atom and additionally bind to two other surface gold atoms, forming an Au-O-Au-O-Au structure. This structure is not just a byproduct or a spectator species but a reaction intermediate, forming on catalytically active gold sites.

Discovery of a reactive oxygen structure on catalytic gold nanoparticles

2019 Spring National Meeting

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