The adsorption and desorption of oxygen on the Pt(110) surface; A thermal desorption and LEED/AES study

The interaction of oxygen with a Pt(110) crystal surface has been investigated by thermal desorption mass spectroscopy, LEED and AES. Adsorption at room temperature produces a β-state which desorbs at ~800 K. Complete isotopic mixing occurs in desorption from this state and it populates with a sticking probability which varies as (1 ? θ)², both observations consistent with dissociative adsorption. The desorption is second order at low coverage but becomes first order at high coverage. The saturationcoverage is 3.5 × 10¹⁴ mol cm^?2. The spectra have been computer analysed to determine the fraction desorbing by first (β₁) and second (β₂) order kinetics as a function of total fractional coverage θ using this fraction as the only adjustable parameter. The β₁ desorption commences at θ ～ 0.25 and β₁ and β₂ contribute equally to the desorption at saturation. The kinetic parameters for β₁ desorption were calculated from the variation of peak temperature with heating rate as ν₁ = 1.7 × 10⁹ s^?1 and E^≠₁ = 32 kcal mole^?1 whereas two different methods of analysis gave consistent parameters ν₂ = 6.5 × 10^?7 cm² mol^?1 s^?1 and E^≠₂ = 29 and 30 kcal mole^?1 for β₂ desorption. The kinetics of desorptior are discussed in terms of the statistics for occupation of near neighbour sites. While many fea tures of the results are consistent with this picture, it is concluded that simple models considering either completely mobile or immobile adlayers with either strong or zero adatom repulsion are not completely satisfactory. The thermal desorption surface coverage has been correlated with the AES measurements and it has been possible to use the AES data for PtO as an internal standard for calibration of the AES oxygen coverage determination. At low temperature (170 K) oxygen populates an additional molecular α-state. Adsorption into the α- and β-states is competitive for the same sites and pre-saturation of the β-state at 300 K excludes the α-state. This, together with the AES observation that the adsorption is enhanced and faster at 450 than 325 K suggests a low activation energy for adsorption into the β-state.     

binding states of CO and H2 on clean and oxidized (111)Pt

The binding states and sticking coefficients of CO and H₂ on clean and oxide covered (111)Pt are examined using flash desorption mass spectrometry and Auger electron spectroscopy (AES). On the clean surface at 78 K there is one major binding state of CO with a desorption activation energy which decreases with coverage plus a second smaller state, while H₂ exhibits three binding states with peak temperatures of 140, 230 and 310 K and saturation density ratios of 0.5 : 1 : 1. Desorption kinetics of CO are consistent with a first order state with a normal pre-exponential factor of 10^{13 ± 1} sec^?1, while all three peaks of H₂ are broader than expected. Interpretations in terms of anomalous pre-exponential factors, coverage dependent desorption activation energies, and desorption orders are considered. On the oxidized surface saturation densities of both gases are nearly identical to those on the clean surface, but desorption temperatures are increased significantly and the initial sticking coefficient on the oxide decreases slightly for CO and increases slightly for H₂.     

Triple point of the first monolayer of nitric oxide adsorbed on the cleavage face of magnesium bromide

This paper is the first of three articles devoted to the CO/Mo(110) chemisorption. The experimental study of adsorption and desorption kinetics was performed by several methods: thermal desorption, low energy electron diffraction and Auger electron spectroscopy. The adsorption of CO on Mo(110) presents two different states. For these two states the desorption kinetics are first order ones, the desorption energies and frequency factors have been determined (E₁ = 99 kcal mole^?1, E₂ = 50 kcal mole^?1, v₁ = 10¹⁹ s^?1, v₂, = 5 × 10¹⁰ s^?1). The dependence of sticking coefficient on surface coverage θ was investigated and was found different for the two states of adsorption. LEED shows that the adsorption is not ordered. AES investigation suggests that in the two states C and O have different positions with respect to MO atoms.     

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.     

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).     

Chemisorption and surface reactivity of nitric oxide on clean and sodium-dosed Ag(110)

The chemisorption of NO on clean and Na-dosed Ag(110) has been studied by LEED, Auger spectroscopy, and thermal desorption. On the clean surface, non-dissociative adsorption into the α-state occurs at 300 K with an initial sticking probability of ～0.1, and the surface is saturated at a coverage of about $\text{1}\text{25}$. Desorption occurs without decomposition, and is characterised by an enthalpy of E_d ～104 kJ mol^?1 — comparable with that for NO desorption from transition metals. Surface defects do not seem to play a significant role in the chemistry of NO on clean Ag, and the presence of surface Na inhibits the adsorption of αNO. However, in the presence of both surface and subsurface Na, both the strength and the extent of NO adsorption are markedly increased and a new state (β₁NO) with E_d ～121 kJ mol^?1 appears. Adsorption into this state occurs with destruction of the Ag(110)-(1 × 2)Na ordered phase. Desorption of β₁NO occurs with significant decomposition, N₂ and N₂O are observed as geseous products, and the system's behaviour towards NO resembles that of a transition metal. Incorporation of subsurface oxygen in addition to subsurface Na increases the desorption enthalpy (β₂NO), maximum coverage, and surface reactivity of NO still further: only about half the adsorbed layer desorbs without decomposition. The bonding of NO to Ag is discussed, and comparisons are made with the properties of α and βNO on Pt(110).     

Adsorption of nitrogen on platinum

The adsorption and desorption of nitrogen on a platinum filament have been studied by thermal desorption techniques. Nitrogen adsorption becomes significant only after any carbon contamination is removed from the surface by heating the platinum filament in oxygen, and after the CO content in the background gas is reduced substantially. At room temperature nitrogen populates an atomic tightly bound β-state, E^≠ = 19 kcal mole^?1. The saturation coverage of the (3-state is 4.5 × 10¹⁴ atoms cm^?2. Formation of the (β-state is a zero order process in the pressure range studied. At 90 K two additional α₁- and α₂-desorption peaks are observed. The activation energy for desorption for the α₂-state is 7.4 kcal mole^?1 at low coverage decreasing to 3 kcal mole^?1 at saturation of this state, 6 × 10 molecules cm^?2. The maximum total coverage in the α-states was 1.2 × 10¹⁵ molecules cm^?2. A replacement process between the β- and α-states has been observed where each atom in the (β-state excludes two molecules from the α-state.     

Adsorption of H2 and CO on clean and oxidized (110) Pt

Binding states and sticking coefficients of CO and H₂ on clean and oxide covered (110) planes of Pt are examined using flash desorption mass spectrometry to characterize binding states and Auger electron spectroscopy (AES) to characterize oxide densities. It is found that on the oxide both adsorbates have new binding states with significantly higher binding energies than on the clean surface. For H₂ the binding states associated with the clean surface are also shifted to higher energies as the oxide coverage increases. The oxide state for H₂ desorbs with first order kinetics, and isotope exchange experiments are used to examine exchange between isotopes and between states. The initial sticking coefficients for CO are 1.0 and 0.85 on clean and oxidized surfaces, and the initial sticking coefficient for H₂ increases from 0.15 on the clean surface to 0.28 on the oxidized surface. Enhanced bonding on the oxide is interpreted in terms of models involving microfacets, electronic structure alteration, and compound formation.     

Adsorption of gold on oxidized tungsten

The kinetics of adsorption and desorption of gold atoms from the surface of a thin (<2 nm) oxide film grown on a textured W ribbon with the preferred emergence of the (100) face is studied using termal desorption spectrometry in a wide range of coatings. A single desorption phase is observed in the spectra of termal desorption of Au atoms from oxidized W. The activation energy of desorption of Au atoms from tungsten oxides is lower than the gold sublimation heat (it amounts to E = 3.1 eV for the concentration of adsorbate atoms on the surface corresponding to coverage θ _s = 2.38). The gold film on oxidized tungsten at room temperature grows in the form of 3D islands. The sticking coefficient for gold atoms at T = 300 K is close to unity in the coverage range 0.5 < θ _s < 2.5.     

Adsorption of molecular nitrogen by the W(110) plane

Characteristics of the adsorption of nitrogen on the (110) plane of tungsten were determined by thermal desorption and work function measurements. The low temperature γ-N₂ state desorbs with first order kinetics and an activation energy of 6 kcal mole^?1. The absence of isotope mixing between ¹⁴N₂ and ¹⁵N₂ demonstrates γ-N₂ is adsorbed molecularly. Monolayer coverage shows a decrease of 0.19 eV in work function. A Topping model plot indicates the layer is immobile at 123 K.     

Interaction of cesium and oxygen on W(110): I. Cesium adsorption on oxygenated and oxidized W(110)

Cesium adsorption on oxygenated and oxidized W(110) is studied by Auger electron spectroscopy, LEED, thermal desorption and work function measurements. For oxygen coverages up to 1.5 × 10¹⁵ cm^?2 (oxygenated surface), preadsorbed oxygen lowers the cesiated work function minimum, the lowest (～1 eV) being obtained on a two-dimensional oxide structure with 1.4 × 10¹⁵ oxygen atoms per cm². Thermal desorption spectra of neutral cesium show that the oxygen adlayer increases the cesium desorption energy in the limit of small cesium coverages, by the same amount as it increases the substrate work function. Cesium adsorption destroys the p(2 × 1) and p(2 × 2) oxygen structures, but the 2D-oxide structure is left nearly unchanged. Beyond 1.5 × 10¹⁵ cm^?2 (oxidized surface), the work function minimum rises very rapidly with the oxygen coverage, as tungsten oxides begin to form. On bulk tungsten oxide layers, cesium appears to diffuse into the oxide, possibly forming a cesium tungsten bronze, characterized by a new desorption state. The thermal stability of the 2D-oxide structure on W(110) and the facetting of less dense tungsten planes suggest a way to achieve stable low work functions of interest in thermionic energy conversion applications.     

Formic acid desorption from graphitized Ni(110)

The adsorption/desorption behavior of formic acid from a monolayer of graphite carbon on Ni(110) was studied using AES, LEED and flash desorption spectroscopy. Formic acid adsorbed at 165 K did not form multilayers of adsorbate. Instead, due to strong hydrogen-bonding interactions the formic acid formed a two-dimensional condensed phase on the surface and exhibited zero-order desorption kinetics initially for a 30-fold change in initial coverage. The zero-order desorption rate constant was k_d = 10¹⁸ exp[?68.2 kJ mol^?1/RT]s^?1, suggesting a desorption transition state with nearly full translational and rotational freedom on the surface. The desorption kinetics and the coverage limit were consistent with the formation of a surface polymer-monomer equilibrium.     

Adsorption,coadsorption, and reactivity of sodium and nitric oxide on Ag(111)

The adsorption, desorption, and surface structural properties of Na and NO on Ag(111), together with their coadsorption and surface reactivity, have been studied by LEED, Auger spectroscopy, and thermal desorption. On the clean surface, non-dissociative adsorption of NO into the a-state occurs at 300 K with an initial sticking probability of ~0.1, saturation occurring at a coverage of $\text{~}\text{1}\text{20}$. Desorption occurs reversibly without decomposition and is characterised by a desorption energy of E_d ~ 103 kJ mol^?1. In the coverage regime 0 < θ_Na < 1, sodium adsorbs in registry with the Ag surface mesh and the desorption spectra show a single peak corresponding to E_d ~ 228 kJ mol^?1. For multilayer coverages (1 < θ _Na < 5) a new low temperature peak appears in the desorption spectra with E_d ~ 187 kJ mol^?1. This is identified with Na desorption from an essentially Na surface, and the desorption energy indicates that Na atoms beyond the first chemisorbed layer are significantly influenced by the presence of the Ag substrate. The LEED results show that Na multilayers grow as a (√7 × √7) R19.2° overlayer, and are interpreted in a way which is consistent with the above conclusion. Coadsorption of Na and NO leads to the appearance of a more strongly bound and reactive chemisorbed state of NO (β-NO) with E_d ~ 121 kJ mol^?1. β-NO appears to undego surface dissociation to yield adsorbed O and N atoms whose subsequent reactions lead to the formation of N₂, N₂O, and O₂ as gaseous products. The reactive behaviour of the system is complicated by the effects of Na and O diffusion into the bulk of the specimen, but certain invariant features permit us to postulate an overall reaction mechanism, and the results obtained here are compared with other relevant work.     

Characteristic electron energy loss structure for clean and oxidized chromium surfaces

AES and EELS spectra have been measured on clean and oxidized chromium surfaces. Auger peaks at 31.0 and 44.0 eV of the oxide are attributed to cross transitions between chromium and oxygen: {M_2,3(Cr)V(Cr)V(O)} and {M₁(Cr)L₁(O)V(Cr)} respectively. Core loss features are consistent with valence band structure with a newly observed loss peak at 41.1 eV for the oxidized surface being ascribed to a core exciton with binding energy E_b = 1.6 eV.     

AES measurements of adsorption isobars for oxygen on tungsten at low pressure and high temperature

Auger electron spectroscopy (AES) has been employed to determine the relative coverage of oxygen on polycrystalline tungsten at high temperatures (1200 ?T ? 2500 K) and low O₂ pressures (5 × 10^?9 ?po₂ ?5 × 10^?6 Torr). We believe that this is the first demonstration that chemical analysis of solid surfaces by AES is possible even at temperatures as high as 2500 K. It is assumed that the relative oxygen coverage is directly proportional to the peak-to-peak amplitude of the first derivative of the 509 eV oxygen Auger peak. The experimental results illustrate the dependence of coverage on temperature and pressure, and it is shown that the results for low coverages may be described reasonably well by a simple first-order desorption model plus a semi-empirical expression for the equilibration probability (or sticking coefficient). On the basis of this approximate model, the binding energy of oxygen on tungsten is estimated as a function of coverage, giving a value of ～ 140 $\text{kcal}\text{mole}$ in the limit of zero coverage.     

The adsorption of ethylene oxide on Ag(110) and Pt(111): Relevance to selective olefin oxidation

The interactions of ethylene oxide (EtO) with the Ag(110) and Pt(111) surfaces have been studied using XPS, TDS, AES and EELS. On Ag(110), the interaction is very weak, with only molecular desorption observable. The heat of adsorption is ≈ 10.1 kcal mole⁻¹. In contrast, decomposition reactions strongly predominate on Pt(111) at low coverage. Molecular desorption is only seen at high coverages. The heat of adsorption decreases from > 11.9 to 10 kcal mole⁻¹ with increasing coverage. Condensed multilayers desorb at ≈ 140 K. Ultimate decomposition products on Pt(111) include H₂ and CO gas, and carbon residue on the surface. Evidence suggests that adsorbed decomposition intermediates may include atomic hydrogen, CO, acetyl and ethylidyne species, with at least one other, yet unidentified, species. These results imply that, if produced, adsorbed ethylene oxide would be unlikely to escape a reactor containing Pt catalyst without further decomposition reactions. This may help explain the uniqueness of Ag catalysts in ethylene epoxidation.     

Une détermination du coefficient d'autodiffusion de surface en présence d'une couche d'adsorption à l'aide de pointes àémission de champ (nickel sur tungsténe)

The tip blunting technique to measure the surface self-diffusion of clean metals (A. Piquet, Vu Thien Binh, H. Roux, R. Uzan and M. Drechsler) is extended to study the influence of an adsorption layer on diffusion. The system studied is nickel on tungsten. The increase of the apex radius is measured by means of FEM characteristics. In the temperature range used (1200–1500 K), the nickel monolayer (1.16 × 10¹⁵ atoms/cm²) is maintained by compensation of desorbed Ni atoms with a continual flux from an evaporation source. The adsorption life time between 1350 and 1500 K decreases from 850 to 16 s. The conservation of the degree of coverage leads to a method to determine the desorption activation energy of nickel (E_d = 4.56 eV/atom). The surface self-diffusion data of tungsten with a nickel monolayer are found to be D₀ = 3 × 10^?3cm/²s and Q_s = 1.9 eV/atom, compared to the clean tungsten data D₀ = 1 cm²/s and Q_s = 3.1 eV/atom. The Ni monolayer increases the surface self-diffusion coefficient by a factor 160 at 1200 K and 20 at 1500 K. The results are discussed with respect to nickel activated sintering of tungsten powders.     

Cyanide chemistry of rubidium-dosed silver and the use of cyanogen as a titrant for surface alkali

The presence of adsorbed rubidium induces dissociation of cyanogen during chemisorption and leads to a mixed adiayer containing two kinds of cyanide surface species. One of these is weakly bound in an undissociated state and desorbs as (CN)₂ (E_d ? 100 k J mole^?1). A second species is the result of dissociation to CN_adsand appears to be closely associated with the Rb adatoms. This species desorbs exclusively as RbCN (E_d ~ 165 kJ mole^?1) with a kinetic order of between zero and unity depending on the surface coverage. This behaviour, together with the electron impact properties of the Rb + CN overlayer suggest that nucleation and island growth of RbCN occurs above a certain critical coverage. This model can account for the way in which the initially large ESD cross-section for CN loss (~3.5 × 10^?18 cm²) rapidly decreases towards zero with decreasing coverage. It is demonstrated that the special properties of the Ag-(CN)₂-Rb system permit (CN)₂ to be used as a specific titrant for surface alkali, and the technique is used to obtain a value for the activation energy (30 kJ mole^?1) for surface → bulk diffusion of Rb in Ag, as well as the above cross-section to ESD.     

The adsorption of carbon monoxide on Cu(110)-Ni surfaces prepared by dissociation of nickel carbonyl

Cu(110)-Ni surface alloys were prepared by dissociation of nickel carbonyl on clean Cu(110). The adsorption of CO is reversible in the temperature region of 22–200°C and the pressure range of 5 × 10^?8-0.7 Torr, as monitored with ellipsometry and AES. The amount of adsorbed CO depends on the amount of preadsorbed oxygen but not on the amount of carbon present at the surface. The isosteric heat of adsorption decreases from 31 ± 3kcal/mole to 18 ± 2 kcal/mole with increasing CO coverage (up to θ = 0.14θ_max) but is constant for higher coverages (up to θ = 0.4θ _max).