A molecular beam study on the interaction of NO with a Pt(111) surface

NO adsorbs on Pt(111) with a (temperature independent) initial sticking coefficient S₀=0.88. The fraction of molecules not being chemisorbed is directly inelastically scattered back due to failure of translational energy accommodation. The nonlinear variation of s with coverage can well be described by a precursor-state model, the precursor state being formed by NO molecules translationally and rotationally accommodated in a physisorbed second layer. Dissociation is essentially restricted to defect sites and is negligible on perfect (111) planes. These defect sites (present in small concentration) are first populated and are also sampled by the modulated beam technique yielding an activation energy for desorption E_d = 33.1 kcal/mole and preexponential factor v_d = 10^15.5s^?1. Isothermal desorption measurements yielded E_d and v_d as a function of coverage: E_d rapidly drops from its initial value (at defect sites) to about 27 kcal/mole — which value is considered as representing the adsorption energy on a perfect (111) plane — and then decreases continuously due to effective repulsive interactions. Simultaneously v_d is decreasing to about 10¹² s^?1 at θ = 0.25 which marks the equilibrium coverage to be reached at 300 K. If the surface is precovered with oxygen atoms the NO sticking coefficient is reduced to 0.6, and the desorption parameters are lowered to E_d = 17.1 kcal/mole and v_d= 10^12.6s^?1 (at zero NO coverage).     

A molecular beam study of the adsorption and desorption of oxygen from a Pt(111) surface

The adsorption and desorption of O₂ on a Pt(111) surface have been studied using molecular beam/surface scattering techniques, in combination with AES and LEED for surface characterization. Dissociative adsorption occurs with an initial sticking probability which decreases from 0.06 at 300 K to 0.025 at 600 K. These results indicate that adsorption occurs through a weakly-held state, which is also supported by a diffuse fraction seen in the angular distribution of scattered O₂ flux. Predominately specular scattering, however, indicates that failure to stick is largely related to failure to accommodate in the molecular adsorption state. Thermal desorption results can be fit by a desorption rate constant with pre-exponential ν_d = 2.4 × 10^?2 cm² s^?1 and activation energy E_D which decreases from 51 to 42 kcal/mole^?1 with increasing coverage. A forward peaking of the angular distribution of desorbing O₂ flux suggests that part of the adsorbed oxygen atoms combine and are ejected from the surface without fully accomodating in the molecular adsorption state. A slight dependance of the dissociative sticking probability upon the angle of beam incidence further supports this contention.     

The interaction of CO and O2 with the (111) surface of Pt3Ti

The electronic properties of clean and partly oxidized Pt₃Ti(111) surfaces have been studied utilizing carbon monoxide both as a probe and as a reducing agent. Vibrational frequencies and desorption profiles of chemisorbed CO as well as ion scattering and angular resolved X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) suggest that the first atomic layer of annealed Pt₃Ti(111) is quasi-pure platinum. Scarcely any (θ ≈ 0.01) dissociation of CO was observed. Minor shifts of vibrational frequencies and desorption temperatures compared to Pt(111) and a p(2 × 2) “reconstruction” of the clean surface reveal some influence of the bulk. Auger spectroscopy, XPS, and ion scattering all show an increased titanium signal as a result of oxidation. Surface bound atomic oxygen gives a vibrational band around 650 cm⁻¹ which coincides with infrared absorption spectra of TiO₂. Flashing with CO shifts the band to 500 cm⁻¹. Correlated with this shift we observe (i) CO₂ desorption at a temperature well above that observed for Pt(111)/O, (ii) an altered Ti XPS signal, and (iii) a reduced oxygen concentration. Subsequently adsorbed CO molecules vibrate at the same frequencies as on the bare surface, give the same c(4 × 2) LEED pattern, and desorb at the same temperatures but with reduced intensity, in all proving that the surface oxide only acts as a site-blocker with respect to the metal surface. Our current understanding of these observations is that oxygen creates “islands of TiO₂”, segregated to the surface but with no electronic influence on remaining areas of the platinum enriched metal surface. The hexacoordinated Ti⁴⁺ ions on the surface of these islands are reduced by CO to pentacoordinated Ti³⁺ species. The vibrational shift, 650 to 500 cm⁻¹, can be understood by the dipole active bands of a triatomic O−Ti⁴⁺ −O vibrator compared to a diatomic Ti³⁺−O vibrator.     

Hydrogen-induced low temperature CO displacement from the Pt(111) surface

A new low temperature displacement mechanism for CO on the Pt(111) surface has been observed in the presence of high pressures of hydrogen (0.001 to 0.1 Torr H₂). Temperature-programmed fluorescence yield near-edge spectroscopy (TP FYNES) was used to continuously monitor the CO coverage as a function of temperature both with and without hydrogen. For hydrogen pressures above 0.01 Torr, removal of CO begins at 130 K (E_d = 10.6 kcal/mol) instead of near the desorption temperature of 400 K (E_d = 26 kcal/mol). The large decrease in CO desorption energy appears to be caused by substantial repulsive interactions in the compressed monolayer induced by coadsorbed hydrogen. The new low temperature CO desorption channel appears to be caused by displacement of the compressed CO adlayer by coadsorbed hydrogen. In addition, the desorption activation energy for the main desorption channel of CO near 400 K is lowered by ~ 1 kcal/mol for hydrogen pressures in the 0.001 to 0.1 Torr range. These new results clearly emphasize the importance of in-situ methods capable of performing kinetic experiments at high pressures on well characterized adsorbed monolayers on single crystal surfaces. High coverages of coadsorbed hydrogen resulting from substantial overpressures may substantially modify desorption activation energies and thus coverages and kinetic pathways available even for strongly chemisorbed species. These phenomena may play an important role in surface reactions which occur at high pressure.     

Direct reaction of adsorbed molecular oxygen with hydrazine on a clean Pt(111) surface

The oxidation of hydrazine on the clean Pt(111) surface has been investigated by temperature-programmed reaction spectroscopy (TPRS) in the temperature range 130–800 K. Direct reaction of molecular oxygen is observed on the Pt(111) surface for the first time, as indicated by the desorption of nitrogen beginning at 130 K with a maximum rate at 145 K, below the molecular oxygen dissociation temperature. Direct reaction of hydrazine with adsorbed molecular oxygen results in the formation of water and nitrogen. With excess hydrazine, all surface oxygen is reacted, forming water. When only adsorbed atomic oxygen is present, the low-temperature nitrogen yield decreases by a factor of 3 and the peak nitrogen desorption temperature increases to 170 K. No high-temperature (450–650 K) nitrogen desorption characteristic of nitrogen atom recombination is seen, indicating that during oxidation the nitrogen-nitrogen bond in hydrazine remains intact, as observed previously for hydrazine decomposition on the Pt(111) surface and hydrazine oxidation on rhodium. Two water desorption peaks are observed, characteristic of desorption-limited (175 K) and reaction-limited (200 K) water evolution from the Pt(111) surface. For low coverages of hydrazine, only the reaction-limited water desorption is observed, previously attributed to water formed from adsorbed hydroxyl groups. When excess hydrazine is adsorbed, the usual hydrazine decomposition products, H₂, N₂ and NH₃, are also observed. No nitrogen oxide species (NO, NO₂ and N₂O) were observed in these experiments, even when excess oxygen was available on the surface.     

A temperature programmed desorption study of the reaction of methylacetylene on Pt(111) and Sn/Pt(111) surface alloys

The adsorption and reaction of methylacetylene (H₃CC≡CH) on Pt(111) and the p(2×2) and

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surface alloys were investigated with temperature programmed desorption, Auger electron spectroscopy and low energy electron diffraction. Hydrogenation of methylacetylene to form propylene is the most favored reaction pathway on all three surfaces accounting for ca 20% of the adsorbed monolayer. Addition of Sn to the Pt(111) surface to form these two ordered surface alloys suppresses the decomposition of methylacetylene to surface carbon. The alloy surfaces also greatly increase the amount of reversibly adsorbed methylacetylene, from none on Pt(111) to 60% of the adsorbed layer on the

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surface alloy. Methylacetylene reaction also leads to a small amount of desorption of benzene, along with butane, butene, isobutylene and ethylene. There is some difference in the yield of these other reaction products depending the Sn concentration, with the (2×2)-Sn/Pt(111) surface alloy having the highest selectivity for these. Despite previous experiments showing cyclotrimerization of acetylene to form benzene on the Pt–Sn surface alloys, the analogous reaction of methylacetylene on the alloy surfaces was not observed, that is, cyclotrimerization of methylacetylene to form trimethylbenzene. It is proposed that this and the high yield of propylene is due to facile dehydrogenation of methylacetylene because of the relatively weak H–CH₂CCH bond compared to acetylene. The desorption of several C₄ hydrocarbon products at low (<170 K) temperature indicates that some minor pathway involving C–C bond breaking is possible on these surfaces.     

CO on Pt(111): TDS and ESD study

Electron stimulated desorption of ionic species from CO adsorbed on Pt(111) has been studied and comparison made with EELS results. The “on-top” site which, according to EELS data, fills first is observed to yield O⁺ ion. The bridge adsorption site appears to release CO⁺ during electron bombardment. Coadsorption of H₂ and CO was also examined and compared with the polycrystalline platinum case. Only very weak coadsorption effects are seen on the Pt(111) surface, as evidenced by presence of a weak low energy component associated with the O⁺ ESD energy distribution.     

Probing the non-pairwise interactions between CO molecules moving on a Cu(111) surface

The coverage dependent dynamics of CO on a Cu(111) surface are studied on an atomic scale using helium spin-echo spectroscopy. CO molecules occupy top sites preferentially, but also visit intermediate bridge sites in their motion along the reaction coordinate. We observe an increase in hopping rate as the CO coverage grows; however, the motion remains uncorrelated up to at least 0.10 monolayers (ML). From the temperature dependence of the diffusion rate, we find an effective barrier of 98 ± 5 meV for diffusion. Thermal motion is modelled with Langevin molecular dynamics, using a potential energy surface having adsorption sites at top and bridge positions and the experimental data are well represented by an adiabatic barrier for hopping of 123 meV. The sites are not degenerate and the rate changes observed with coverage are modelled successfully by changing the shape of the adiabatic potential energy surface in the region of the transition state without modifying the energy barrier. The results demonstrate that sufficient detail exists in the experimental data to provide information on the principal adsorption sites as well as the energy landscape in the region of the transition state.     

A LEED/UPS study on the interaction of oxygen with a Ni(111) surface

Exposure of a Ni(111) surface to oxygen leads at first to the formation of a chemisorbed overlayer which is characterized by a 2 × 2-superstructure and a maximum in the photoemission spectrum (hv = 40.8 eV) centered at 5.6 eV below the Fermi level E_F. The emission from the Ni d-states is nearly unaffected at this stage of interaction. After high oxygen exposures the epitaxial growth of NiO can be identified from the LEED pattern. The corresponding photoelectron spectrum is strongly altered and exhibits close agreement with the transition energies as calculated by Messmer et al. for a NiO₆^10- -cluster.     

Island shape selection in Pt(111) submonolayer homoepitaxy with or without CO as an adsorbate

The microscopic selection mechanisms of single-layer island shapes in Pt(111) homoepitaxy with or without minute amounts of CO adsorbate have been investigated theoretically. For clean growth, only triangular islands of a fixed orientation are obtained within a wide range of growth temperatures, with the orientation uniquely determined by a disparity in the rates of atom supply to an island corner site from the two island edges defining the corner. This novel picture is further corroborated by growth predictions in the presence of CO, whose preferential decoration of one type of the island edges reverses the intrinsic rate disparity for atom supply, thereby inverting the island orientation.     

Adsorption of hydrogen on a Pt(111) surface

The H₂/Pt(111) system has been studied with LEED, ELS, thermal desorption spectroscopy and contact potential measurements. At 150 K H₂ was found to adsorb with an initial sticking coefficient of about 0.1, yielding an atomic H:Pt ratio of about 0.8:1 at saturation. H₂/D₂ exchange experiments gave evidence that adsorption is completely dissociative. No exrea LEED spots due to adsorbed hydrogen were observed, but the adsorbate was found to strongly damp the secondary Bragg maxima in the I/V spectrum of the specular beam. The primary Bragg maxima were slightly increased in intensity and shifted to somewhat lower energy. A new characteristic electron energy loss at ?15.4 eV was recorded upon hydrogen adsorption. The thermal desorption spectra were characterized by a high temperature (β₂-) state desorbing with second order kinetics below 400 K and a low temperature (β₂-) state that fills up, in the main, after the first peak saturates. The β₂-state is associated with an activation energy for desorption E1 of 9.5 kcal/mole. The decrease E1 with increasing coverage and the formation of the β₁-state are interpreted in terms of a lateral interaction model. The anomalous structure in the thermal desorption spectra is attributed to domains of non-equilibrium configuration. The work function change Δ? was found to have a small positive maximum (～ 2 mV) at very low hydrogen doses (attributed to structural imperfections) and then to decrease continuously to a value of ?230 mV at saturation. The variation of Δ? with coverage is stronger than linear. The isosteric heats of adsorption as derived from adsorption isotherms recorded via Δ? compared well with the results of the analysis of the thermal desorption spectra.     

Adsorption sites of CO on Pt (111)

The surface vibrations of CO adsorbed on Pt(111) single crystal surfaces at 320 K have been studied by electron-energy-loss spectroscopy. At low coverages two vibration modes at 58 and ∼260 meV are observed. For exposures >0.2 Langmuir two additional modes at 45 and 232 meV develop. Considering also the observed LEED structures these vibrations are attributed to CO molecules being adsorbed upright in on-top and bridge sites, respectively.     

Leakage of O2 precursor molecules from inert hydrogen islands on a Pt(111) surface

We have observed, using infrared spectroscopy, that the precursor-mediated O2 chemisorption on the clean and the partially hydrogen-covered Pt(111) surfaces exhibits opposite temperature dependencies above the temperature for stable O2 physisorption. While the chemisorption probability on the clean surface increases with increasing temperature due to thermal activation of the precursor, it decreases on the partially hydrogen-covered surface which we suggest is due to a general loss of the mobile precursor molecules by thermal desorption from chemically inert hydrogen islands.     

The interaction of oxygen with the Rh(111) surface a

The adsorption of oxygen on Rh(111) at 100 K has been studied by TDS, AES, and LEED. Oxygen adsorbs in a disordered state at 100 K and orders irreversibly into an apparent (2 × 2) surface structure upon heating to T? 150 K. The kinetics of this ordering process have been measured by monitoring the intensity of the oxygen $\text{(1,}\text{1}\text{2}\text{) LEED}$ beam as a function of time with a Faraday cup collector. The kinetic data fit a model in which the rate of ordering of oxygen atoms is proportional to the square of the concentration of disordered species due to the nature of adparticle interactions in building up an island structure. The activation energy for ordering is $\text{13.5 ± 0.5}\text{kcal}\text{mole}$. At higher temperatures, the oxygen undergoes a two-step irreversible disordering (T? 280 K) and dissolution (T?400K) process. Formation of the high temperature disordered state is impeded at high oxygen coverages. Analysis of the oxygen thermal desorption data, assuming second order desorption kinetics, yields values of 56 ± 2 kcal/ mole and 2.5 ± 10^?3 cm² s^?1 for the activation energy of desorption and the pre-exponential factor of the desorption rate coefficient, respectively, in the limit of zero coverage. At non-zero coverages the desorption data are complicated by contributions from multiple states. A value for the initial sticking probability of 0.2 was determined from Auger data at 100 K applying a mobile precursor model of adsorption.