Atomic Structure and Catalytic Activity of W-Modified Ni₂P Surface Alloy by Photoelectron Diffraction and Spectroscopy

Abstract

The surface alloying is the important topics in Ni₂P study which is expected for next generation hydrodesulfurization and hydrodenitrogenation catalyst. The atomic structure and catalytic properties of a single crystalline Ni₂P surface modified with W (W-Ni₂P) was investigated by photoelectron diffraction (PED) and spectroscopy. PED is an element and site selective surface structure analysis method that enables observation of three-dimensional atomic configurations of the surface local structure. The selective replacement of W to the Ni site in the Ni₂P crystal was clarified by PED. Chemical reactivities for NO molecules of the W-Ni₂P and the clean Ni₂P surfaces were compared. On the clean Ni₂P surface, the NO adsorption did not occur, whereas W-Ni₂P surface showed remarkable activity for NO adsorption. [DOI: 10.1380/ejssnt.2014.53]