IR spectroscopic investigations of chemical and photochemical reactions on metal oxides: bridging the materials gap

). When using carbon monoxide (CO) as a probe molecule, deep insight into the role of defects in the surface chemistry of oxides can be gained, as will be demonstrated by the characterization of different imperfections (e.g., O vacancies, nanofacets) present at oxidic samples. In addition, photostimulated excitations, e.g., electron or hole polaronic trap states, can be studied using IR-spectroscopy. Reliable and comprehensive reference data acquired for different oxide monocrystal model systems enables atomic-level insights into the structural, electronic, and reactive properties of the substantially more complex nanostructured oxide particles. We foresee that future application of IR spectroscopy to other challenging systems, including polar oxide surfaces with their often complex reconstruction patterns and oxide-supported highly dispersed metal particles, will provide a major advancement in the understanding of heterogeneous catalysts (539 references).