Normal mode analysis of silica-supported vanadium oxide catalysts: Comparison of theory with experiment

• First normal mode analysis of silica supported vanadium oxide
• Vibrational bands are characterized by contributions of several force constants.
• Importance of an adequate description of the support is highlighted.
• Theoretical results are fully consistent with experimental IR and Raman data.

The vibrational structure of silica-supported vanadium oxide species has been studied by normal mode analysis using polyhedral oligomeric silsesquioxanes (POSSs) to describe the silica support. The analysis reveals that the vanadium oxide-related vibrational bands are characterized by significant contributions of several force constants. Their discussion in terms of single bond-unit designators is therefore not adequate. The consideration of the silica support is shown to be of importance for the vibrational spectrum. The theoretical results are fully consistent with experimental data for a silica-supported vanadium oxide catalyst with a vanadium coverage of 0.7 atoms/nm2.