INTERACTION OF CARBON DIOXIDE WITH SUPPORTED METAL CATALYST SURFACES

The environmental concern about the impact of CO₂ has grown recently due to its rapidly increasing concentration. Deforestation strongly affects the natural reduction of CO₂ by water into carbohydrates through the photosynthesis process. Various transition metal complexes have exhibited activities to catalyze the reaction of CO₂ with various hydrocarbons, oxygenates, and amines. Industrial utilization of CO₂ by heterogeneous catalytic reactions can be one of the effective ways to cut the CO₂ level. The first step in the catalytic reaction of CO₂ is adsorption. Rh is selected for this study because of its unique activity to catalyze a number of CO2 related reactions. In situ infrared results reveal that CO₂ adsorbed on the reduced catalyst surface as carboxylate species and on the oxidized catalyst surface as bidentate and monodentate carbonate species which are also the dominant adsorbed species during the H₂ TPR study.