Fundamental Studies of Well-Defined Surfaces of Mixed-Metal Oxides: Special Properties of MOx/TiO2(110) {M = V, Ru, Ce, or W}

The article presents fundamental studies of well-defined surfaces of mixed-metal oxides. In a traditional catalyst, metal nanoparticles are dispersed over an oxide support, with the presumption that the main role of the support is to stabilize and disperse the metal particles along its surface. Furthermore, since the surface morphology of the powder catalyst is highly heterogeneous, it is difficult to perform detailed mechanistic studies on this system and to explore possible correlations between surface structure or composition and chemical reactivity. The titanium L edge indicates only a weak interaction of V2O3 with the surface of titania which is also implied by the results of XPS measurements. The geometry of the V2O 3/TiO2(110) system has been examined by X-ray photoelectron diffraction (XPD).