The role of Ru atoms toward the dehydrogenation of ethanol on Ru/ZrO2(1Â 1Â 1) surface

Deposition of Ru atoms on the ZrO2 surface greatly increases the catalytic performance (the barrier is much smaller by 48.40 kcal/mol on Ru/ZrO2 than ZrO2 counterpart). It turns out that the catalytic role of deposited Ru atoms is not only to minimize the deformation of the ZrO2 surface but also increase the interaction with the adsorbates.