Turning aluminium into a noble-metal-like catalyst for low-temperature activation of molecular hydrogen

Activation of molecular hydrogen is the first step in producing many important industrial chemicals that have so far required expensive noble-metal catalysts and thermal activation. We demonstrate here that aluminium doped with very small amounts of titanium can activate molecular hydrogen at temperatures as low as 90 K. Using an approach that uses CO as a probe molecule, we identify the atomistic arrangement of the catalytically active sites containing Ti on Al(111) surfaces, combining infrared reflection-absorption spectroscopy and first-principles modelling. CO molecules, selectively adsorbed on catalytically active sites, form a complex with activated hydrogen that is removed at remarkably low temperatures (115 K; possibly as a molecule). These results provide the first direct evidence that Ti-doped Al can carry out the essential first step of molecular hydrogen activation under nearly barrierless conditions, thereby challenging the monopoly of noble metals in hydrogen activation.