Influence of Carbon Vacancies on CO Chemisorption on TiC(001): A Theoretical Study

The extended $H{\ddot{u}}ckel$ method is employed to analyze the interaction of carbon monoxide with the TiC(001) surfaces, both perfect and containing carbon vacancies. CO exhibits a similar ${\sigma}$-donation interaction for both $Ti_{25}C_{25}$ and $Ti_{25}C_{23}$ clusters, as deduced from the fact that the populations of the CO $5{\sigma}$ orbital are identical upon adsorption, but it bonds more strongly with the $Ti_{25}C_{23}$ than with the $Ti_{25}C_{25}$ because the metal d electron density in $Ti_{25}C_{23}$ provides ${\pi}$ back-bonding interactions with CO that are absent in $Ti_{25}C_{25}$. This work suggests that a difference in reactivity toward CO of stoichiometric TiC and TiC with carbon defects is connected with the occupancy of $2{\pi}^*$ orbitals that leads to a significant weakening of the C-O bond.