Chemisorption,surface structural chemistry,and electron impact properties of carbon monoxide on rhodium (110)

The adsorption, desorption, surface structural chemistry, and electron impact properties of CO on Rh(110) have been studied by LEED, Auger spectroscopy, thermal desorption, and surface potential measurements. At 300 K, CO adsorbs into a single chemisorbed state whose desorption energy (E_d) is ~130kJmol^-1. The initial sticking probability is unity, and at saturation coverage a (2 × 1)plgl ordered phase reaches its maximum degree of perfection, thus demonstrating that this CO structure is common to the (110) faces of all the cubic platinum group metals. The saturated adlayer corresponds to θ = 1 and shows a surface potential of Δ? = +0.97 V. Under electron impact, desorption and dissociation of CO occur with about equal probability, the relevant cross sections being ~10^-22 m² in each case. Slow thermal dissociation of CO occurs at high temperature and pressure, leaving a deposit of C and O atoms on the surface. The thermal, electron impact, and Δ? properties of Rh(110)CO resemble those of Ni(110)CO rather closely, and are very different from those of Pt(110)CO. Surface carbon is shown to inhibit CO chemisorption, whereas surface oxygen appears to lead to the formation of a new more tightly bound form of CO with a considerably enhanced desorption energy (E_d ~ 183 kJmol^-1). Similar oxygen-induced high temperature CO states have been reported recently on Co(0001) and Ru(101̄1).