Methanol decomposition catalyzed by surface defects on PdTe₂

Lai-Hsiang Kuo^1*, Jing-Wen Hsueh¹, Wan-Hsin Chen², Chia-Nung Kuo³, Yu-Ling Lai⁴, Li-Chung Yu⁴, Hung-Wei Shiu⁴, Yao-Jane Hsu⁴, Chin-Shan Lue³, Chun-Liang Lin², Meng-Fan Luo¹

¹Department of Physics, National Central University, Taoyuan, Taiwan
²Department of Electrophysics, National Yang Ming Chiao Tung University, Hsinchu, Taiwan
³Department of Physics, National Cheng-Kung University, Tainan, Taiwan
⁴Nanoscience group, National Synchrotron Radiation Research center, Hsinchu, Taiwan

* Presenter:Lai-Hsiang Kuo, email:ray0217a@gmail.com

With reflection high energy electron diffraction (RHEED) and synchrotron-based photoelectron spectroscopy (PES), we demonstrate that the surface defects on PdTe₂, a type of transition metal dichalcogenides (TMDs), are produced in a controlled manner and reactive toward methanol decomposition. Earlier studies have shown that^[1] by introducing chalcogenides defects, the reactivity of TMDs surface could be dramatically changed. This significant feature gives rise to the potential of a catalyst. The present results show that the inert PdTe₂ basal plane is activated by creating surface Te vacancies, corresponding to the formation of low-coordinated surface Pd (Pd_lc); the creation and concentration of the surface defects were controlled with dosages of Ar⁺ ion bombardment. Methanol adsorbed on the defective PdTe₂ decomposed at temperature 160 - 200 K and the decomposition was enhanced with the concentration of the surface defects. We assign the active sites to the surface Pd_lc.

[1] Hu, J., Yu, L., Deng, J., Wang, Y., Cheng, K., Ma, C., ... & Deng, D. (2021). Sulfur vacancy-rich MoS₂ as a catalyst for the hydrogenation of CO₂ to methanol. Nature Catalysis, 4(3), 242-250.

Keywords: PdTe2, Surface Defects, PES, RHEED, methanol decomposition