Studies of the hydrogen held by solids: XXII. The surface chemistry of reduced molybdenaalumina catalysts

Abstract The surface hydroxyl concentrations of a fresh molybdenaalumina catalyst (8% Mo) and of the alumina from which it was made have been determined as a function of the temperature of pretreatment. Similar data were obtained for catalysts reduced with H 2 or with CO. In all cases, the hydroxyl concentrations decreased with increasing pretreatment temperatures. The difference between the curves for the parent alumina and the molybdenaalumina preparation made from it provided a measure of the number of hydroxyl groups eliminated as the epitaxial monolayer of molybdena was grown onto the surface. The values obtained (1.7 ± 0.6 OH/Mo) showed that the surface hydroxyl groups of alumina are replaced by molybdate anions. When the catalyst was reduced with CO to about e Mo = 1.5 (average valence, Mo +4.5 ), the curve obtained was almost identical with that for the unreduced catalyst, but when the catalyst was reduced with H 2 , values for the retained hydrogen were higher than for the oxidized catalyst and approached those of the parent alumina as its evacuation temperature was increased to 550 °C. This increase in hydroxyl concentration was in agreement with earlier deductions. The hydroxyl region of the infrared spectra of similar preparations was recorded. Four distinct bands could be characterized for the parent alumina at 3780, 3740, 3705, and 3650 cm −1 and a shoulder at 3795 cm −1 . The same bands were present on the oxidized catalyst, but with lower intensities and with altered intensity ratios; i.e., some bands were affected more than others as hydroxyl groups were replaced by molybdena species. Spectra from catalysts reduced with CO were indistinguishable in the OH region from those for the unreduced catalyst. No new bands appeared when the catalysts were reduced with H 2 , but the intensities of bands attributable to alumina OH increased with the 3795 cm −1 band strengthening noticeably more than the others. Thus, the new hydroxyl groups introduced on reduction are probably alumina OH rather than MoOH as previously supposed. A form of hydrogen which is chemisorbed but which can be removed from the catalyst as H 2 on evacuation at the reduction temperature also appeared in the OH region, mainly as a continuous contribution to the low frequency edge. From absorption coefficients derived from the present data, it was deduced that about twice as many hydrogen atoms were present in the H 2 formed than were supplied by these OH groups; i.e., the chemisorption appears heterolytic with half the atoms unseen by ir. A search was made for a band attributable to MoH, but without success. A brief study was made of this adsorption process, which was found to be slow but reversible, and to have a positive pressure dependence. When the catalyst was reduced with CO, rather than with H 2 , a portion of the CO remained irreversibly chemisorbed in electronically comparable amounts. Infrared spectra of such samples contained a band at about 1585 cm −1 attributable to a carbonate species. Data for the two reducing gases differed in that no reversibly chemisorbed CO was observed. At room temperature, CO was also chemisorbed as a linear species with the stretching frequency (2190 cm −1 ) higher than that of the gaseous molecule (2143 cm −1 ).