Nitrogen Molecule Adsorption on Cationic Tantalum Clusters and Rhodium Clusters and Desorption from Their Nitride Clusters Studied by Thermal Desorption Spectrometry.

Adsorption and desorption of N2 molecules onto cationic Ta and Rh clusters in the gas phase were investigated in the temperature range of 300-1000 K by using thermal desorption spectrometry in combination with density functional theory (DFT) calculations. For Ta6(+), the first N2 molecule was found to adsorb dissociatively, and it remained adsorbed when Ta6(+)N2 was heated to 1000 K. In contrast, the second and the subsequent N2 molecules adsorbed weakly as a molecular form and were released into the gas phase when heated to 600 K. The difference can be explained in terms of the activation barrier between the molecular and dissociative forms. On the other hand, when Ta clusters were generated in the presence of N2 gas by the laser ablation of a Ta rod, isomeric clusters, TanNm(+), having heat resistivity were formed. For Rh6(+), N2 adsorbed molecularly at 300 K and desorbed totally at 450 K. These results were consistent with the DFT calculations, indicating that the dissociative adsorption of N2 is endothermic.

Reactivity Control of Rhodium Cluster Ions by Alloying with Tantalum Atoms.

Gas phase, bielement rhodium and tantalum clusters, RhnTam(+) (n + m = 6), were prepared by the double laser ablation of Rh and Ta rods in He carrier gas. The clusters were introduced into a reaction gas cell filled with nitric oxide (NO) diluted with He and were subjected to collisions with NO and He at room temperature. The product species were observed by mass spectrometry, demonstrating that the NO molecules were sequentially adsorbed on the RhnTam(+) clusters to form RhnTam(+)NxOx (x = 1, 2, 3, ...) species. In addition, oxide clusters, RhnTam(+)O2, were also observed, suggesting that the NO molecules were dissociatively adsorbed on the cluster, the N atoms migrated on the surface to form N2, and the N2 molecules were released from RhnTam(+)N2O2. The reactivity, leading to oxide formation, was composition dependent: oxide clusters were dominantly formed for the bielement clusters containing both Rh and Ta atoms, whereas such clusters were hardly formed for the single-element Rhn(+) and Tam(+) clusters. DFT calculations indicated that the Ta atoms induce dissociation of NO on the clusters by lowering the dissociation energy, whereas the Rh atoms enable release of N2 by lowering the binding energy of the N atoms on the clusters.

Thermal Desorption and Reaction of NO Adsorbed on Rhodium Cluster Ions Studied by Thermal Desorption Spectroscopy.

Cationic rhodium clusters, Rh(n)(+) (n = 4-8), were prepared in the gas phase by the laser ablation of a Rh rod. The Rh(n)(+) clusters were introduced into a reaction gas cell filled with nitric oxide (NO) diluted with He, where they were subjected to collisions with NO and He in a thermal equilibrium at 300 K. The NO molecules were found to adsorb sequentially on the Rh(n)(+) clusters forming Rh(n)(+)(NO)m. To examine the adsorption form and the reaction of NO, we heated Rh(n)(+)(NO)m in an extension tube located after the reaction gas cell and the thermal response of the clusters, desorption of the fragments, was recorded as a function of temperature (300-1000 K). The desorption of NO molecules was predominantly observed below 500 K, giving either Rh(n)(+)(NO)n+1 or Rh(n)(+)(NO)n+2, which indicates that there were NO molecules loosely adsorbed on the Rhn(+) clusters. Further desorption was found to proceed at higher temperatures (500-1000 K), whereby NO was released from the smaller clusters, Rh(n)(+) (n ≤ 5). In contrast, for the larger clusters (n ≥ 6), N2 release was clearly observed at high temperatures (>800 K). Thus, the reduction of NO occurred for larger clusters at higher temperatures.