ABSTRACT
Oxide Clusters..............................................................................................425
17.3 Results and Discussion............................................................................................. 430
17.3.1 Iron Oxide.................................................................................................... 430
17.3.2 Copper Oxide............................................................................................... 436
17.3.3 Zirconium Oxide .......................................................................................... 441
17.3.4 Vanadium Oxide .......................................................................................... 445
17.3.5 Titanium Oxide ............................................................................................ 446
17.3.6 Reactivity of Metal Oxide Clusters.............................................................. 453
17.3.6.1 Iron Oxide Clusters — Catalysis for the Reactions of
CO-NO to CO2-N2 ...................................................................... 454
17.3.6.2 Vanadium Oxide Clusters — Catalysis for the
Reaction SO2SO3 and CO-CO2................................................. 457 17.3.7 Cluster Structure Calculations ..................................................................... 461
17.4 Conclusions .............................................................................................................. 466
Acknowledgments .............................................................................................................. 466
References .......................................................................................................................... 466
To say catalysis is ubiquitous in nature and for environmental systems is an understatement.
Both homogeneous and heterogeneous catalysis are of natural fundamental importance to all
three phases of our environment (gas, liquid, and solid) [1, 2]. Additionally, most biological
reactions are of a catalytical nature and life on Earth is suggested to arise through a series of
catalytic events [3-5]. The complete exploration of such environmental and biological pro-
cesses will include an understanding and explication of the catalytic events that underlie these
chemistries, but, at least at present, the natural processes are typically far too complicated and
veiled by other events or systems to generate a detailed, fundamental picture of how the
catalytical reactions proceed mechanistically. This is especially true for any heterogeneous
process [1, 2].
