Mo Promoted Pt(111) for Reduced Adsorption Strength of Aromatics

Fast pyrolysis oil (bio-oil) is a promising platform for upgrading lignocellulosic biomass to valuable products.  Unfortunately, many of the furanic and phenolic compounds derived from the decomposition of lignin are known to cause catalyst poisoning and deactivation.  However, noble metal catalyst such as platinum can be made resistant to these adverse effects by the addition of an oxophilic modifier.  In this study, we probe the effect of a molybdenum subsurface layer on the binding strength of a model aromatic compound, benzyl alcohol.