Hydrazine reduction of transition metal oxides - In situ characterization using X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy

The transition metal oxides (TMOs) V2O5, FeO3, Co3O4, NiO, CuO, and ZnO were exposed to hydrazine at various pressures. The metallic surfaces were surveyed by in situ X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy to determine the irrelative rate of reduction by hydrazine. The most easily reducible oxide, CuO, could be reduced to the metallic state at room temperature and 10 to the -6th torr. The reaction is first order with respect to CuO, with an activation energy of about 35 kJ/mol. Two types of adsorption were seen to occur at 295 K: (1) a reversible component in which the measured N:Cu ratio increased to 0.60 at hydrazine pressures up to 0.5 torr, and (2) an irreversible component, with a N:Cu ratio of 0.28, which could not be removed by extended vacuum pumping. The results of this study are useful for the identification of TMO's that can be used as solid neatallizers of hydrazine spills, and for the preparation of metal surfaces for electroplating and evaporative thin-film coating.