Structure of Catalytically Active Sites in Supported Metal Catalysts

The adsorption site and the mode of ethylene bonding on Pt/Al2O3 catalysts have been determined. Theoretically obtained signatures using FEFF8 showed that the possible bonding modes of ethylene can be distinguished, which is experimentally shown for the room temperature adsorption of ethylene. This study shows that it is feasible to determine the structures of the adsorption sites and the modes of bonding of hydrocarbon molecules on the surfaces of supported metal catalysts.