CO oxidation on metal-supported ultrathin oxide films: What makes them active?

It depends on O: The catalytic properties of ultrathin oxide films are studied by using the low-temperature oxidation of CO as a benchmark reaction. The results reveal a strong correlation between the activity and the desorption energy of the most weakly bound oxygen species present on these films under net oxidizing conditions at near-atmospheric pressures. The results suggest the use of oxygen binding energy as a suitable descriptor for the reaction