The adsorption of tin on Pt(111) decreased the tendency
of the surface to deactivate by carbon deposition (coking).
This was verified directly by the decrease of carbon buildup
after reaction with cyclohexane. These results point to Sn
titrating the high activity, coke-forming defect sites present
on Pt(111) or impeding the formation of highly unsaturated
molecules by making the presence of large ensembles of Pt
unavailable. This decrease in carbon buildup explains the
increase in rates for hydrogenation of ethylene and dehydrogenation
of cyclohexane when less than 0.2 monolayers
of Sn is added.
In the presence of both tin and potassium the CO TPD
suggests an interaction between K and Sn with the formation
of a “surface alloy.” Adsorbed potassium decreased
the turnover rate of cyclohexane dehydrogenation on Pt
and Pt/Sn samples with a monotonic decrease in activity
with increasing potassium coverage. Potassium could possibly
decrease the rate of deactivation by site blocking, especially
because K has a large ionic radius, it interacts with
Sn, and there is an example in the literature of a similar effect
of bulky surface compounds like Re–S on the Pt–Re–S
system increasing the catalyst stability.
The Pt/Sn/K catalyst is a better catalyst for dehydrogenation
because it deactivates less, not because it has a higher
turnover rate