Effect of Surface Structure of TiO2 Nanoparticles on CO2 Adsorption and SO2 Resistance

The effect of surface structure of TiO2 nanocrystals on the structure, amount, and strength of adsorbed CO2 and resistance to SO2 was investigated using in situ IR spectroscopy and mass spectrometric techniques along with first-principles density functional theory (DFT) calculations. TiO2 nanoshapes, including rods {(010) + (101) + (001)}, disks {(001) + (101)}, and truncated octahedra {(101) + (001)}, were used to represent different TiO2 structures. Upon CO2 adsorption, carboxylates and carbonates (bridged, monodentate) are formed on TiO2 rods and disks, whereas only bidentate and monodentate carbonates are formed on TiO2 truncated octahedra. In general, the order of thermal stability of the adsorbed CO2 species is carboxylates ≈ monodentate carbonates > bridged carbonates > bidentate carbonates ≈ bicarbonates. TiO2 rods and disks adsorb CO2 more strongly than TiO2 truncated octahedra, which is explained by the larger number of low coordinated surface oxygen and oxygen vacancies on the rods and disks th...