Surface electronic properties of tungsten, tungsten carbide, and platinum

The local electronic structures of the surface regions of tungsten, tungsten carbide, and platinum have been compared. Contrary to the hypothesis that the platinum-like catalytic activity of tungsten carbide results from the contribution of carbon valence electrons to the 5 d band of tungsten, the width of the unfilled portion of the d band increases on going from tungsten to tungsten carbide.