Catalytic C2H2 synthesis via low temperature CO hydrogenation on defect-rich 2D-MoS2 and 2D-MoS2 decorated with Mo clusters

Rational design of novel catalytic materials used to synthesize storable fuels via the CO hydrogenation reaction has recently received considerable attention. In this work, defect poor and defect rich 2D-MoS2 as well as 2D-MoS2 decorated with Mo clusters are employed as catalysts for the generation of acetylene (C2H2) via the CO hydrogenation reaction. Temperature programmed desorption is used to study the interaction of CO and H2 molecules with the MoS2 surface as well as the formation of reaction products. The experiments indicate the presence of four CO adsorption sites below room temperature and a competitive adsorption between the CO and H2 molecules. The investigations show that CO hydrogenation is not possible on defect poor MoS2 at low temperatures. However, on defect rich 2D-MoS2, small amounts of C2H2 are produced, which desorb from the surface at temperatures between 170 K and 250 K. A similar C2H2 signal is detected from defect poor 2D-MoS2 decorated with Mo clusters, which indicates that low coordinated Mo atoms on 2D-MoS2 are responsible for the formation of C2H2. Density functional theory investigations are performed to explore possible adsorption sites of CO and understand the formation mechanism of C2H2 on MoS2 and Mo7/MoS2. The theoretical investigation indicates a strong binding of C2H2 on the Mo sites of MoS2 preventing the direct desorption of C2H2 at low temperatures as observed experimentally. Instead, the theoretical results suggest that the experimental data are consistent with a mechanism in which CHO radical dimers lead to the formation of C2H2 that presents an exothermic desorption.