Study of the methanol adsorbates on Pt(100) and Pt(111) single crystal surfaces

The formation of methanol adsorbate as a structure sensitive process was studied on platinum single crystal surfaces. The measurements were performed on reproducibly prepared, clean and either well ordered (“undisturbed”) or cycled (“disturbed”) Pt(100) and Pt(111) single crystal electrodes. Essential differences were found. The data are interpreted in terms of parallel pathways leading to both COH and CO as adsorbed intermediates in a ratio depending on the surface structure present on the single crystal electrode.