Quaternary ammonium bromide surfactant adsorption on low-index surfaces of gold. 1. Au(111)

The coadsorption of the anionic and cationic components of a model quaternary ammonium bromide surfactant on Au(111) has been measured using the thermodynamics of an ideally polarized electrode. The results indicate that both bromide and trimethyloctylammonium (OTA(+)) ions are coadsorbed over a broad range of the electrical state of the gold surface. At negative polarizations, the Gibbs surface excess of the cationic surfactant is largely unperturbed by the presence of bromide ions in solution. However, when the Au(111) surface is weakly charged the existence of a low-coverage, gaslike phase of adsorbed halide induces an appreciable (~25%) enhancement of the interfacial concentration of the cationic surfactant ion. At more positive polarizations, the coadsorbed OTA(+)/Br(-) layer undergoes at least one phase transition which appears to be concomitant with the lifting of the Au(111) reconstruction and the formation of a densely packed bromide adlayer. In the absence of coadsorbed halide, the OTA(+) ions are completely desorbed from the Au(111) surface at the most positive electrode polarizations studied. However, with NaBr present in the electrolyte, a high surface excess of bromide species leads to the stabilization of adsorbed OTA(+) at such positive potentials (or equivalent charge densities).     

Crystal-face-selective adsorption of Au nanoparticles onto polycrystalline diamond surfaces

Crystal-face-selective adsorption of Au nanoparticles (AuNPs) was achieved on polycrystalline boron-doped diamond (BDD) surface via the self-assembly method combined with a UV/ozone treatment. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first report of crystal-face-selective adsorption on an inorganic solid surface. Hydrogen-plasma-treated BDD samples and those followed by UV/ozone treatment for 2 min or longer showed almost no adsorption of AuNP after immersion in the AuNP solution prepared by the citrate reduction method. However, the samples treated by UV/ozone for 10 s showed AuNP adsorption on their (111) facets selectively after the immersion. Moreover, the sample treated with UV/ozone for 40-60 s showed AuNP adsorption on the whole surface. These results indicate that the AuNP adsorption behavior can be controlled by UV/ozone treatment time. This phenomenon was highly reproducible and was applied to a two-step adsorption method, where AuNPs from different batches were adsorbed on the (111) and (100) surface in this order. Our findings may be of great value for the fabrication of advanced nanoparticle-based functional materials via bottom-up approaches with simple macroscale procedures.     

Self-assembly of alkanols on Au(111) surfaces

Self-assembled monolayers (SAMs) of alkanols (1-C(N)H(2N+1)OH) with varying carbon-chain lengths (N = 10-30) have been systematically studied by means of scanning tunneling microscopy (STM) at the interfaces between alkanol solutions (or liquids) and Au(111) surfaces. The carbon skeletons were found to lie flat on the surfaces. This orientation is consistent with SAMs of alkanols on highly oriented pyrolytic graphite (HOPG) and MoS2 surfaces, and also with alkanes on reconstructed Au(111) surfaces. This result differs from a prior report, which claimed that 1-decanol molecules (N = 10) stood on their ends with the OH polar groups facing the gold substrate. Compared to alkanes, the replacement of one terminal CH3 group with an OH group introduces new bonding features for alkanols owing to the feasibility of forming hydrogen bonds. While SAMs of long-chain alkanols (N > 18) resemble those of alkanes, in which the aliphatic chains make a greater contribution, hydrogen bonding plays a more important role in the formation of SAMs of short-chain alkanols. Thus, in addition to the titled lamellar structure, a herringbone-like structure, seldom seen in SAMs of alkanes, is dominant in alkanol SAMs for values of N < 18. The odd-even effect present in alkane SAMs is also present in alkanol SAMs. Thus, the odd N alkanols (alkanols with an odd number of carbon atoms) adopt perpendicular lamellar structures owing to the favorable interactions of the CH3 terminal groups, similar to the result observed for odd alkanes. In contrast to alkanes on Au(111) surfaces, for which no SAMs on an unreconstructed gold substrate were observed, alkanols are capable of forming SAMs on either the reconstructed or the unreconstructed gold surfaces. Structural models for the packing of alkanol molecules on Au(111) surfaces have been proposed, which successfully explain these experimental observations.     

Experimental and theoretical study of the adsorption of fumaramide [2]rotaxane on Au(111) and Ag(111) surfaces

Thin films of fumaramide [2]rotaxane, a mechanically interlocked molecule composed of a macrocycle and a thread in a "bead and thread" configuration, were prepared by vapor deposition on both Ag(111) and Au(111) substrates. X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) and high-resolution electron-energy-loss spectroscopy were used to characterize monolayer and bulklike multilayer films. XPS determination of the relative amounts of carbon, nitrogen, and oxygen indicates that the molecule adsorbs intact. On both metal surfaces, molecules in the first adsorbed layer show an additional component in the C 1s XPS line attributed to chemisorption via amide groups. Molecular-dynamics simulation indicates that the molecule orients two of its eight phenyl rings, one from the macrocycle and one from the thread, in a parallel bonding geometry with respect to the metal surfaces, leaving three amide groups very close to the substrate. In the case of fumaramide [2]rotaxane adsorption on Au(111), the presence of certain out-of-plane phenyl ring and Au-O vibrational modes points to such bonding and a preferential molecular orientation. The theoretical and experimental results imply that the three-dimensional intermolecular configuration permits chemisorption at low coverage to be driven by interactions between the three amide functions of fumaramide [2]rotaxane and the Ag(111) or Au(111) surface.     

Chiral structures of 6,12-dibromochrysene on Au(111) and Cu(111) surfaces

Nanoscale low-dimensional chiral architectures are increasingly receiving scientific interest, because of their potential applications in many fields such as chiral recognition, separation and transformation. Using 6,12-dibromochrysene (DBCh), we successfully constructed and characterized the large-area two-dimensional chiral networks on Au(111) and one-dimensional metal-liganded chiral chains on Cu(111) respectively. The reasons and processes of chiral transformation of chiral networks on Au(111) were analyzed. We used scanning tunneling spectroscopy (STS) to analyze the electronic state information of this chiral structure. This work combines scanning tunneling microscopy (STM) with non-contact atomic force microscopy (nc-AFM) techniques to achieve ultra-high-resolution characterization of chiral structures on low-dimensional surfaces, which may be applied to the bond analysis of functional nanofilms. Density functional theory (DFT) was used to simulate the adsorption behavior of the molecular and energy analysis in order to verify the experimental results.     

Molecular modeling of oligopeptide adsorption onto functionalized quartz surfaces

The adsorption of an EAK 16-II oligopeptide sequence in aqueous medium onto functionalized quartz surfaces has been studied by using force field calculations and molecular dynamics methods. Two different surfaces have been simulated respectively involving fully methylated and fully silanolic quartz surfaces. Geometry optimization and molecular dynamics simulations showed that the adsorption process is mainly governed by the electrostatic interactions between SiO- surface groups and the charged residues of the oligopeptide sequence. In particular, it was found that strong electrostatic interactions (a) prompt the parallel orientation of the oligopeptide with respect to the hydrophilic charged surface, resulting in an effective physisorption process and (b) stabilize the beta-sheet configuration of the physisorbed molecules. In particular, the end-on oligopeptide orientations are demonstrated to progressively lie back onto the hydrophilic surface, but this does not happen onto the hydrophobic surface. In any case, no physisorption process was observed for the fully methylated surface, where the molecule is seen to move away from the surface during the simulation time.     

Theoretical study of benzonitrile clusters in the gas phase and their adsorption onto a Au(111) surface

We made theoretical calculations for a benzonitrile molecule and its clusters in the gas phase and as adsorbed on the Au(111) surface, to explain the observation by scanning tunneling microscope, that is, the trimer formation of cyanophenyl porphyrins adsorbed onto the Au(111) surface. With regard to the gas-phase species, ab initio calculations showed that (1) the benzonitrile dimer has a single stable structure that is planar and antiparallel; (2) the trimer has two isoenergetic stable structures, that is, a planar and cyclic structure and an antiparallel and nonplanar one; (3) the clusters are more stable, at low temperatures, than the monomer. For the adsorbed species, we made quantum mechanical/molecular mechanical calculations in which the interaction between the adsorbates and the surface is evaluated in a molecular-mechanical way by using analytical potential functions and an image charge model. Because the stable structures were found to be similar to those in the gas phase, the cluster formation of adsorbed cyanophenyl porphyrins was attributed to the interaction between cyanophenyl groups, which is barely affected by adsorbate-surface interaction. It was also found that the adsorbed cyclic benzonitrile trimer is more stable than the monomer and the dimer because the relative stability is dependent on enthalpy alone. We therefore concluded that the preferential formation of trimers by the adsorbed cyanophenyl porphyrins is due to the negligible contribution of entropy to the relative stability of the adsorbed species and that the adsorption hardly changes the situation found in the gas phase.     

CO在Pt(111)和Pt-M(111)(M=Ni,Mg)表面吸附的理论研究

采用密度泛函理论与周期性平板模型相结合的方法,对CO在Pt(111)表面top,fcc,hcp和bridge 4个吸附位和Pt-M(111)(M=Ni,Mg)表面h-top,M-top,Pt(M)Pt-bridge,Pt(M)M-bridge,Pt(Pt)M-bridge,M(Pt)M-bridge,Pt1M2-hcp...     

Coverage-dependent adsorption geometry of octithiophene on Au(111)

The adsorption behavior of α-octithiophene (8T) on the Au(111) surface as a function of 8T coverage has been studied with low-temperature scanning tunneling microscopy, high resolution electron energy loss spectroscopy as well as with angle-resolved two-photon photoemission and ultraviolet photoemission spectroscopy. In the sub-monolayer regime 8T adopts a flat-lying adsorption geometry. Upon reaching the monolayer coverage the orientation of 8T molecules changes towards a tilted configuration, with the long molecular axis parallel to the surface plane, facilitating attractive intermolecular π-π-interactions. The photoemission intensity from the highest occupied molecular orbitals (HOMO and HOMO - 1) possesses a strong dependence on the adsorption geometry due to the direction of the involved transition dipole moment for the respective photoemission process. The change in molecular orientation as a function of coverage in the first molecular layer mirrors the delicate balance between intermolecular and molecule/substrate interactions. Fine tuning of these interactions opens up the possibility to control the molecular structure and accordingly the desirable functionality.     

离子液体中Au(111)和Pt(111)表面Ge欠电位沉积的现场STM研究

本文研究BMIPF₆离子液体中Au(111)和Pt(111)表面Ge的电沉积行为. 循环伏安法测试结果表明,在含0.1 mol·L^-1 GeCl₄的BMIPF₆溶液Au(111)和Pt(111)表面均有两个与Ge沉积过程相关的还原峰. 第一个还原峰包含了Ge⁴⁺还原成Ge²⁺及Ge的欠电位沉积,第二个还原峰对应Ge的本体沉积. 现场扫描隧道显微镜研究结果表明,Ge在Au(111)和Pt(111)表面均有两层欠电位沉积. 第一层欠电位沉积厚度约为0.25 nm、形貌平整、带有缝隙的亚单层结构. 第二层欠电位沉积形貌相对粗糙的点状团簇结构. 该欠电位沉积过程伴随表面合金化.     

Methylthiolate on Au(111): adsorption and desorption kinetics

Low energy electron diffraction, Auger electron spectroscopy, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy and line of sight mass spectrometry have been used to study the adsorption and desorption of dimethyldisulfide (DMDS) on Au(111). At 300 K adsorption is dissociative, forming a chemisorbed adlayer of methylthiolate with a 1/3 ML, (sq rt 3 x sq rt 3)R30 degrees, structure. At 100 K adsorption is molecular, with dissociation to form the 1/3 ML (sq rt 3 x sq rt 3)R30 degrees methylthiolate structure occurring at 138-160 K. A physisorbed DMDS layer, with a coverage of 1/6 ML of DMDS, forms on top of the (sq rt 3 x sq rt 3)R30 degrees chemisorbed MT surface for T < or = 180 K, with multilayers forming for T < or = 150 K. In temperature programmed desorption, multilayers of DMDS desorbed with zero order kinetics and an activation energy of 41 kJ mol(-1); the physisorbed layer desorbed with first order kinetics, exhibiting repulsive lateral interactions with an activation energy which varied from 63 kJ mol(-1) (theta = 0) to 51 kJ mol(-1) (theta = 1); the chemisorbed methylthiolate layer desorbed associatively as DMDS via the physisorbed layer, the activation energy for the reaction, 2 methylthiolate --> physisorbed DMDS, exhibiting repulsive lateral interactions with an activation energy which varied from 65 kJ mol(-1) (theta = 0) to 61 kJ mol(-1) (theta = 1). The physisorbed disulfide layer explains the pre-cursor state adsorption kinetics observed in sticking probability measurement, while its relatively facile formation provides a mechanism by which thiolate self-assembled monolayers can become mobile at room temperature.     

Decoupling surface reconstruction and perchlorate adsorption on Au(111)

On Au(111) electrodes, the investigation of ClO₄⁻ adsorption is hampered by a simultaneous surface reconstruction. We demonstrate that these two processes can be decoupled in cyclic voltammograms by a proper choice of the scan rate and of the initial potential. Our approach allowed the establishment of a relation between potentials of zero charge for the reconstructed and unreconstructed Au(111) surfaces.     

Decorated Ru/Au(111) and Os/Au(111) surfaces: An in situ STM and electrochemistry study

The structure and reactivity of bimetallic electrodes obtained by spontaneous deposition of Ru and Os on Au(111) single-crystal surfaces are studied. In situ electrochemical STM and cyclic voltammetry are used to characterize a wide range of surface morphologies thus produced. The STM results on Ru/Au(111) demonstrate a pronounced step decoration, while a random distribution of Ru nuclei, quite uniform in size, occurs on terraces. Osmium deposits show a slight preference for deposition on steps, but it also occurs readily on terraces. However, many of the Os islands grow into multilayer heights. The coverage of the Au(111) by the deposited Ru or Os islands for a particular solution concentration depends on the deposition time. Nanostructures of Ru and Os are tested for catalytic behavior and correlated to CO oxidation activity as measured by CO stripping voltammetry. Published in Russian in Elektrokhimiya, 2006, Vol. 42, No. 11, pp. 1385–1392. Based on the report delivered at the 8th International Frumkin Symposium “Kinetics of the Electrode Processes,” October 18–22, 2005, Moscow. The text was submitted by the authors in English.     

Density functional theory study of water adsorption at reduced and stoichiometric ceria (111) surfaces

We study the structure and energetics of water molecules adsorbed at ceria (111) surfaces for 0.5 and 1.0 ML coverages using density functional theory. The results of this study provide a theoretical framework for interpreting recent experimental results on the redox properties of water at ceria (111) surfaces. In particular, we have computed the structure and energetics of various absorption geometries at the stoichiometric ceria (111) surface. We find that single hydrogen bonds between the water and the oxide surface are favored in all cases. At stoichiometric surfaces, the water adsorption energy depends rather weakly on coverage. We predict that the observed coverage dependence of the water adsorption energy at stoichiometric surfaces is likely the result of dipole-dipole interactions between adsorbed water molecules. When oxygen vacancies are introduced in various surface layers, water molecules are attracted more strongly to the surface. We find that it is very slightly energetically favorable for adsorbed water to oxidized the reduced (111) surface with the evolution of H(2). In the event that water does not oxidize the surface, we predict that the effective attractive water-vacancy interaction will result in a significant enhancement of the vacancy concentration at the surface in agreement with experimental observations. Finally, we present our results in the context of recent experimental and theoretical studies of vacancy clustering at the (111) ceria surface.     

Self-assembly of normal alkanes on the Au (111) surfaces

The self-assembled monolayers (SAMs) of normal alkanes (n-C(n)H(2n+2)) with different carbon chain lengths (n=14-38) in the interfaces between alkane solutions (or liquids), and the reconstructed Au (111) surfaces have been systematically studied by means of scanning tunneling microscopy (STM). In contrast to previous studies, which concluded that some n-alkanes (n=18-26) can not form well-ordered structures on Au (111) surfaces, we observed SAM formations for all these n-alkanes without any exceptions. We find that gold reconstruction plays a critical role in the SAM formation. The alkane monolayers adopt a lamellar structure in which the alkane molecules are packed side-by-side, to form commensurate structures with respect to the reconstructed Au (111) surfaces. The carbon skeletons are found to lie flat on the surfaces, which is consistent with the infrared spectroscopic studies. Interestingly, we find that two-dimensional chiral lamellar structures form for alkanes with an even carbon number due to the specific packing of alkane molecules in a tilted lamella. Furthermore, we find that the orientation of alkane molecules deviates from the exact [011] direction, because of the intermolecular interactions among the terminal methyl groups of neighboring lamellae; this results in differences of molecular orientation between mirror structures of adjacent zigzag alkane lamellae. Structural models have been proposed, that shed new light on monolayer formation.     

Electrochemical self-assembly of alkanethiolate molecules on Ni(111) and polycrystalline Ni surfaces

In this work, the electrochemical formation of alkanethiolate self-assembled monolayers (SAMs) on Ni(111) and polycrystalline Ni surfaces from alkanethiol-containing aqueous 1 M NaOH solutions was studied by combining Auger electron spectroscopy (AES), X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), electrochemical techniques, and density functional theory (DFT) calculations. Results show that alkanethiolates adsorb on Ni concurrent with NiO electroreduction. The resulting surface coverage depends on the applied potential and hydrocarbon chain length. Electrochemical and XPS data reveal that alkanethiolate electroadsorption at room temperature takes place without S-C bond scission, in contrast to previous results from gas-phase adsorption. A complete and dense monolayer, which is stable even at very high cathodic potentials (-1.5 V vs SCE), is formed for dodecanethiol. DFT calculations show that the greater stability against electrodesorption found for alkanethiolate SAMs on Ni, with respect to SAMs on Au, is somewhat related to the larger alkanethiolate adsorption energy but is mainly due to the larger barrier to interfacial electron transfer present in alkanethiolate-covered Ni. A direct consequence of this work is the possibility of using electrochemical self-assembly as a straightforward route to build stable SAMs of long-chained alkanethiolates on Ni surfaces at room temperature.     

TNT adsorption on Au(111): electrochemistry and adlayer structure

Electrochemistry and adlayer structure of trinitrotoluene (TNT) on an Au(111) electrode were investigated using cyclic voltammetry and in situ electrochemical scanning tunneling microscopy (ECSTM).     

Co-adsorption of water and hydrogen on Ni(111)

We have studied the surface coverage dependence of the co-adsorption of D and D(2)O on the Ni(111) surface under UHV conditions. We use detailed temperature-programmed desorption studies and high resolution electron energy loss spectroscopy to show how pre-covering the surface with various amounts of D affects adsorption and desorption of D(2)O. Our results show that the effects of co-adsorption are strongly dependent on D-coverage. In the deuterium pre-coverage range of 0-0.3 ML, adsorption of deuterium leaves a fraction of the available surface area bare for D(2)O adsorption, which shows no significant changes compared to adsorption on the bare surface. Our data indicate phase segregation of hydrogen and water into islands. At low post-coverages, D(2)O forms a two-phase system on the remaining bare surface that shows zero-order desorption kinetics. This two phase system likely consists of a 2-D solid phase of extended islands of hexamer rings and a 2-D water gas phase. Increasing the water post-dose leads at first to 'freezing' of the 2-D gas and is followed by formation of ordered, multilayered water islands in-between the deuterium islands. For deuterium pre-coverages between 0.3 and 0.5 ML, our data may be interpreted that the water hexamer ring structure, (D(2)O)(6), required for the formation of an ordered multilayer, does not form anymore. Instead, more disordered linear and branched chains of water molecules grow in-between the extended, hydrophobic deuterium islands. These deuterium islands have a D-atom density in agreement with a (2x2)-2D structure. The disordered water structures adsorbed in-between form nucleation sites for growth of 3-D water structures. Loss of regular lateral hydrogen bonding and weakened interaction with the substrate reduces the binding energy of water significantly in this regime and results in lowering of the desorption temperature. At deuterium pre-coverages greater than 0.5 ML, the saturated (2x2)-2D structure mixes with (1x1)-1D patches. The mixed structures are also hydrophobic. On such surfaces, submonolayer doses of water lead to formation of 3-D water structures well before wetting the entire hydrogen-covered surface.     

Density functional theory investigation of benzenethiol adsorption on Au(111)

We have studied the adsorption of benzenethiol molecules on the Au(111) surface by using first principles total energy calculations. A single thiolate molecule is adsorbed at the bridge site slightly shifted toward the fcc-hollow site, and is tilted by 61 degrees from the surface normal. As for the self-assembled monolayer (SAM) structures, the (2 square root of 3 x square root of 3)R30 degrees herringbone structure is stabilized against the (square root 3 x square root 3)R30 degrees structure by large steric relaxation. In the most stable (2 square root 3 x square root 3)R30 degrees SAM structure, the molecule is adsorbed at the bridge site with the tilting angle of 21 degrees, which is much smaller compared with the single molecule adsorption. The van der Waals interaction plays an important role in forming the SAM structure. The adsorption of benzenethiolates induces the repulsive interaction between surface Au atoms, which facilitates the formation of surface Au vacancy.