“…The monometallic oxide catalyst shows a broad and asymmetrical band at 500-550 cm À1 region corresponding to the stretching of Ni-O bond (first order phonons). The location of this band, which shifted to higher frequencies with respect to the bulk nickel oxide, is associated with a strong interaction between the Al 2 O 3 support and the nickel species, in agreement with TPR and XPS results [27]. A small shoulder at $400 cm À1 assigned to material surface vacancies and weak bands at 700 and 1080 cm À1 associated with second order phononic modes of nickel oxide were also present [28].…”