State-Resolved Methane Dissociation on Pt(111) Studied by Reflection Absorption Infrared Spectroscopy

The dissociation of methane on Pt(111) was studied using quantum state-resolved methods and reflection absorption infrared spectroscopy (RAIRS), at a surface temperature of 150 K where the nascent reaction products methyl(ads) and H(ads) are stable and accumulate on the surface. RAIRS used here for state-resolved reactivity measurements, enables us to monitor the methyl(ads) uptake during molecular beam deposition. The results show that methane dissociation is not only both translationally and vibrationally activated process but also can be bond-selective.