An XPS study of the water adsorption on Cu(110)

The adsorption of H₂O on clean and oxygen precovered Cu(110) is studied at temperatures between 90 and 300 K by XPS. On the oxygen precovered surface three O(1s) emission lines are detected at lower temperature. They originate from adsorbed atomic oxygen, from OH groups, and from H₂O molecules. For an oxygen coverage of half a monolayer, XPS indicates that during H₂O decomposition the preadsorbed oxygen does not directly participate in the OH formation. After water adsorption on the clean surface three O(1s) emission lines are found, which are due to H₂O molecules, “disturbed” H₂O molecules, and OH groups. The XPS results are directly correlated with information about the adsorbates obtained by UPS. Coverages are determined from the XPS spectra for the detected species.     

The adsorption and reaction of H2O on clean and oxygen covered Ag(110)

The adsorption and reaction of water on clean and oxygen covered Ag(110) surfaces has been studied with high resolution electron energy loss (EELS), temperature programmed desorption (TPD), and X-ray photoelectron (XPS) spectroscopy. Non-dissociative adsorption of water was observed on both surfaces at 100 K. The vibrational spectra of these adsorbates at 100 K compared favorably to infrared absorption spectra of ice Ih. Both surfaces exhibited a desorption state at 170 K representative of multilayer H₂O desorption. Desorption states due to hydrogen-bonded and non-hydrogen-bonded water molecules at 200 and 240 K, respectively, were observed from the surface predosed with oxygen. EEL spectra of the 240 K state showed features at 550 and 840 cm^?1 which were assigned to restricted rotations of the adsorbed molecule. The reaction of adsorbed H₂O with pre-adsorbed oxygen to produce adsorbed hydroxyl groups was observed by EELS in the temperature range 205 to 255 K. The adsorbed hydroxyl groups recombined at 320 K to yield both a TPD water peak at 320 K and adsorbed atomic oxygen. XPS results indicated that water reacted completely with adsorbed oxygen to form OH with no residual atomic oxygen. Solvation between hydrogen-bonded H₂O molecules and hydroxyl groups is proposed to account for the results of this work and earlier work showing complete isotopic exchange between H₂¹⁶O_(a) and ¹⁸O_(a).     

Photoemission studies of H2S,H2 and S adsorbed on Ru(110): Evidence for an adsorbed SH species

H₂S, H₂ and S adsorbed on Ru(110) have been studied by angle-integrated ultraviolet photoemission (UPS) as part of a study of the effect of adsorbed sulfur, a common catalytic poison, on this Ru surface. For low exposures of H₂S at 80 K, the work function rises to a value 0.16 eV above that of clean Ru(110) while the associated UPS spectra (hν = 21.2 eV) exhibit features similar to those of H(ads) and S(ads) and different from those of molecular H₂S. We conclude that H₂S dissociates completely at low coverages on Ru(110) at 80 K. At intermediate exposures the work function drops and the UPS spectra show new features which are attributed to the presence of an adsorbed SH species. This appears to be the first direct observation of this surface complex. At higher exposures the work function saturates at a value 0.36 eV below the clean value; the UPS spectra change markedly and indicate the adsorption of molecular H₂S. Heating adsorbed H₂S leaves a stable layer of S(ads) on Ru(110). The surface with adsorbed sulfur strongly modifies the adsorption at 80 K of a number of molecules relative to the clean Ru(110) surface.     

H2O interaction with clean and oxygen precovered Ni(110)

The interaction of water vapour with clean as well as with oxygen precovered Ni(110) surfaces was studied at 150 and 273 K, using UPS, ΔΦ, TDS, and ELS. The He(I) (He(II)) excited UPS indicate a molecular adsorption of H₂O on Ni(110) at 150 K, showing three water-induced peaks at 6.5, 9.5 and 12.2 eV below E_F (6.8, 9.4 and 12.7 eV below E_F). The dramatic decrease of the Ni d-band intensity at higher exposures, as well as the course of the work function change, demonstrates the formation of H₂O multilayers (ice). The observed energy shift of all water-induced UPS peaks relative to the Fermi level (ΔE_max = 1.5 eVat 200 L) with increasing coverage is related to extra-atomic relaxation effects. The activation energies of desorption were estimated as 14.9 and 17.3 kcal/mole. From the ELS measurements we conclude a great sensitivity of H₂O for electron beam induced dissociation. At 273 K water adsorbs on Ni(110) only in the presence of oxygen, with two peaks at 5.7 and 9.3 eV below E_F (He(II)), being interpreted as due to hydroxyl species (OH)^δ? on the surface. A kinetic model for the H₂O adsorption on oxygen precovered Ni(110) surfaces is proposed, and verified by a simple Monte Carlo calculation leading to the same dependence of the maximum amount of adsorbed H₂O on the oxygen precoverage as revealed by work function measurements. On heating, some of the (OH)^δ? recombines and desorbs as H₂O at ? 320 K, leaving behind an oxygen covered Ni surface.     

A photoelectron spectroscopic investigation of the interaction between H2O and oxygen on Ag(110)

The adsorption and reaction of H₂O with adsorbed oxygen atoms on Ag(110) was examined by UPS. In agreement with previous EELS results, H₂O formed multilayers of ice upon adsorption at 140 K. The ice layers could be easily distinguished from monolayer coverages of chemisorbed H₂O (present above 160 K) by UPS. The ice layers produced (1) strong attenuation of the emission from the Ag d-bands, (2) a nearly 2 eV shift of H₂O valence levels to higher binding energy and (3) strong attenuation of emission from the H₂O 3a₁ orbital. H₂O was observed to react stoichiometrically with O(a) above 250 K to produce a pure layer of adsorbed hydroxyl species. The UPS spectra for these species exhibited features at ?5.8 and ?8.7 eV, as well as strong features above the d-bands. These spectra were compared with those for OH(a) on other surfaces, and the difficulties of identifying OH by UPS due to contamination by excess H₂O are discussed.     

Adsorption behavior of H2O on clean and oxygen precovered Ni(s)(111)

Photoelectron spectroscopy (UPS), thermal desorption spectroscopy (TDS), isotope exchange experiments, work function change (δφ) and LEED were used to study the adsorption and dissociation behavior of H₂O on a clean and oxygen precovered stepped Ni(s)[12(111) × (111)] surface. On the clean Ni(111) terraces fractional monolayers of H₂O are adsorbed weakly in a single adsorption state with a desorption peak temperature of 180 K, just above that of the ice multilayer desorption peak (T_m = 155 K). In the angular resolved UPS spectra three H₂O induced emission maxima at 6.2, 8.5 and 12.3 eV below E_F were found for θ ≈ 0.5. Angular and polarization dependent UPS measurements show that the C_2v symmetry of the H₂O gas-phase molecule is not conserved for H₂O(ad) on Ni(s)(111). Although the Δφ suggest a bonding of H₂O to Ni via the negative end of the H₂O dipole, the O atom, no hints for a preferred orientation of the H₂O molecular axes were found in the UPS, neither for the existence of water dimers nor for a long range ordered H₂O bilayer. These results give evidence that the molecular H₂O axis is more or less inclined with respect to the surface normal with an azimuthally random distribution. H₂O adsorption at step sites of the Ni(s)(111) surface leads in TDS to a desorption maximum at T_m = 225 K; the binding energy of H₂O to Ni is enhanced by about 30% compared to H₂O adsorbed on the terraces. Oxygen precoverage causes a significant increase of the H₂O desorption energy from the Ni(111) terraces by about 50%, suggesting a strong interaction between H₂O and O(ad). Work function measurements for H₂O+O demonstrate an increase of the effective H₂O dipole moment which suggests a reorientation of the H₂O dipole in the presence of O(ad), from inclined to a more perpendicular position. Although TDS and Δφ suggest a significant lateral interaction between H₂O+O(ad), no changes in the molecular binding energies in UPS and no “isotope exchange” between ¹⁸O(ad) and H₂¹⁶O(ad) could be observed. Also, dissociation of H₂O could neither be detected on the oxygen precovered Ni(s)(111) nor on the clean terraces.     

A spectroscopic study of the adsorption and reactions of methanol,formaldehyde and methyl formate on clean and oxygenated Cu(110) surfaces

The adsorption and reaction of methanoi (CH₃OH), methyl formate (CH₃OCHO) and formaldehyde (H₂CO) on clean and oxygen-covered Cu(110) surfaces has been studied with EELS, UPS and thermal desorption spectroscopy (TDS). The clean surface is relatively unreactive but adsorbed oxygen readily attacks the hydroxyl proton and formyl carbon atoms to generate the intermediate methoxy (CH₃O) and formate (HCOO). Methyl formate is split into two intermediates, methoxy and formate. By correlating the three techniques we analyse (a) the condensed multilayer at 90 K; (b) the weakly bound molecular monolayer states prior to dissociation or reaction and (c) the reactive intermediates at higher temperatures. Formaldehyde forms the surface polymer polyoxymethylene [(CH₂O)_n] in the monolayer on Cu(110) which subsequently reacts with oxygen to generate formate. No molecular formaldehyde was observed above 120 K. Correlation of the EELS and UPS results for polyoxymethylene shows that an earlier interpretation by Rubloff et al. [Phys. Rev. B14 (1976) 1450] of anomalous shifts in the formaldehyde UPS spectrum on surfaces is incorrect, and due simply to the new polymeric structure of surface formaldehyde. Methyl formate coordinates to copper via the carbonyl lone pair orbital and methanol via the oxygen lone pair orbital. No evidence was found for methyl formate synthesis by dimerization of formaldehyde (the Tischenko reaction) or dehydrogenation of methanol on the clean Cu(110) surface. These latter reactions are facile over copper catalysts at atmospheric pressure. The success of the oxidation experiments and the failure of the synthesis reactions in UHV is a consequence of the pressure dependence of the equilibrium constants for the different reactions. As found previously in Fischer-Tropsch studies, condensation reaction equilibria are pressure dependent and product formation is considerably suppressed at UHV pressures.     

XPS,UPS and thermal desorption studies of alcohol adsorption on Cu(110): I. Methanol

The adsorption of methanol on clean and oxygen dosed Cu(110) surfaces has been studied using temperature programmed reaction spectroscopy (TPRS), ultra-violet photoelectron spectroscopy (UPS) and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS). Methanol was adsorbed on the clean surface at 140 K in monolayer quantities and subsequently desorbed over a broad range of temperature from 140 to 400 K. The UPS He (II) spectra showed the 5 highest lying emissions seen in the gas phase spectrum of methanol with a chemisorption bonding shift of the two highest lying orbitais due to bonding to the surface via the oxygen atom with which these orbitals are primarily associated. A species of quite a different nature was produced by heating this layer to 270 K. Most noticeably the UPS spectrum showed only 3 emissions and the maximum coverage of this state was approximately $\text{1}\text{2}$ monolayer. The data are indicative of the formation of a methoxy species, thus showing that methanol is dissociated on the clean Cu(110) surface at 270 K. The same dissociated species was observed on the oxygen dosed surface, the main difference in this ease being the production of large amounts of H₂CO observed in TPRS at 370 K.     

Adsorption and dissociation of water on LaB6(100) investigated by surface vibrational spectroscopy

The chemisorption of water (H₂O and D₂O) on a LaB₆(100) surface was studied with reflection absorption infrared spectroscopy (RAIRS) and high resolution electron energy loss spectroscopy (HREELS). The clean surface was exposed to H₂O and D₂O at temperatures from 90 K to room temperature, and spectra were acquired after heating to temperatures as high as 1200 K. It was found that water molecularly adsorbs on the surface at 90 K as a monomer at low coverages and as amorphous solid water at higher coverages. Water adsorbs dissociatively at room temperature to produce surface hydroxyl species as indicated by OH/OD stretch peaks at 3676/2701 cm^?1. Room temperature adsorption also reveals low frequency loss features in HREEL spectra near 300 cm^?1 that are quite similar to results obtained following the dissociative adsorption of O₂. In the latter case, the loss features were attributed to the LaO stretch of O atoms bridge-bonded between two La atoms. In the case of dissociative adsorption of H₂O, the low frequency loss features could be due to either the LaO vibrations of adsorbed O or of adsorbed OH.     

Adsorption of H2O on Al(111)

The adsorption of H₂O on Al(111) has been studied by ESDIAD (electron stimulated desorption ion angular distributions), LEED (low energy electron diffraction), AES (Auger electron spectroscopy) and thermal desorption in the temperature range 80–700 K. At 80 K, H₂O is adsorbed predominantly in molecular form, and the ESDIAD patterns indicate that bonding occurs through the O atom, with the molecular axis tilted away from the surface normal. Some of the H₂O adsorbed at 80 K on clean Al(111) can be desorbed in molecular form, but a considerable fraction dissociates upon heating into OH_ads and hydrogen, which leaves the surface as H₂. Following adsorption of H₂O onto oxygen-precovered Al(111), additional OH_ads is formed upon heating (perhaps via a hydrogen abstraction reaction), and H₂ desorbs at temperatures considerably higher than that seen for H₂O on clean Al(111). The general behavior of H₂O adsorption on clean and oxygen-precovered Al(111) (θ_O ? monolayer) is rather similar at low temperature, but much higher reactivity for dissociative adsorption of H₂O to form OH _adsis noted on the oxygen-dosed surface around room temperature.     

Theoretical studies on the adsorption and decomposition of H2O on Pd(1 1 1) surface

To provide information about the chemistry of water on Pd surfaces, we performed density functional slab model studies on water adsorption and decomposition at Pd(1 1 1) surface. We located transition states of a series of elementary steps and calculated activation energies and rate constants with and without quantum tunneling effect included. Water was found to weakly bind to the Pd surface. Co-adsorbed species OH and O that are derivable from H₂O stabilize the adsorbed water molecules via formation of hydrogen bonds. On the clean surface, the favorable sites are top and bridge for H₂O and OH, respectively. Calculated kinetic parameters indicate that dehydrogenation of water is unlikely on the clean regular Pd(1 1 1) surface. The barrier for the hydrogen abstraction of H₂O at the OH covered surface is approximately 0.2-0.3 eV higher than the value at the clean surface. Similar trend is computed for the hydroxyl group dissociation at H₂O or O covered surfaces. In contrast, the O-H bond breaking of water on oxygen covered Pd surfaces, H₂O_ad + O_ad → 2OH_ad, is predicted to be likely with a barrier of ∼0.3 eV. The reverse reaction, 2OH_ad → H₂O_ad + O_ad, is also found to be very feasible with a barrier of ∼0.1 eV. These results show that on oxygen-covered surfaces production of hydroxyl species is highly likely, supporting previous experimental findings.     

The adsorption of oxygen and water on Ca and CaO films studied with MIES, UPS and XPS

Metastable induced electron spectroscopy (MIES), Ultraviolet photoelectron spectroscopy (UPS), and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) are employed to study the adsorption of water on Ca and CaO films as well as the adsorption of oxygen on Ca films. Ca films are prepared by evaporation of Ca onto clean Si(1 0 0) substrates. CaO films are produced by Ca evaporation in an oxygen atmosphere at a substrate temperature of 400 °C. Gas adsorption on the Ca films at room temperature, both for oxygen and water, is initiated by complete dissociation of the impinging molecules leading to the formation of Ca–O bonds. Exposure to water furthermore leads to the formation of hydroxyl groups via hydrogen abstraction from water forming a complete surface layer. Hydroxyl groups are also formed upon exposure of CaO films to water, but to a significantly smaller amount compared to Ca films exposed to water.     

Decomposition pathways of C1C4 alcohols adsorbed on platinum (111)

The adsorption and decomposition of methanol, ethanol, propan-1-ol, propan-2-ol and butan-1-ol has been studied on clean, and oxygen pre-covered Pt(111) surfaces. Temperature Programmed Reaction Spectroscopy (TPRS), Surface Potential Measurements (ΔV), UPS and XPS were used to characterise the adsorbed layer as a function of temperature. Each alcohol adsorbed into two states, a monolayer phase and a multilayer phase which were distinguishable by TPRS and Spectroscopy measurements. The monolayer alcohol adsorption heats increased sequentially from methanol to n-butanol (11.5–15 kcal mole^?1). On the clean surface, less than 10% of the adsorbed monolayer dissociated, with 90% of the alcohol desorbing intact. Two competing dissociative pathways were observed: complete dissociation to adsorbed CO, H and C, and with propan-1-ol and butan-1-ol, scission of the CC bond nearest the CO group to form adsorbed CO, H and ethylidyne and propylidyne species respectively. The latter reaction probability was constant at 30% for n-propanol and n-butanol. In all cases the final desorption products were the parent alcohol, CO and H₂ with carbon remaining on the surface for the higher alcohols. Atomic oxygen removed hydrogen from the alcohols as water but did not change the final reaction products.     

Interaction of H2O with a clean and oxygen precovered Ni(110) surface studied by XPS

The adsorption and reaction of H₂O on clean and oxygen precovered Ni(110) surfaces was studied by XPS from 100 to 520 K. At low temperature (T<150 K), a multilayer adsorption of H₂O on the clean surface with nearly constant sticking coefficient was observed. The O 1s binding energy shifted with coverage from 533.5 to 534.4 eV. H₂O adsorption on an oxygen precovered Ni(110) surface in the temperature range from 150 to 300 K leads to an O 1s double peak with maxima at 531.0 and 532.6 eV for T=150 K (530.8 and 532.8 eV at 300 K), proposed to be due to hydrogen bonded O_ads… HOH species on the surface. For T>350 K, only one sharp peak at 530.0 eV binding energy was detected, due to a dissociation of H₂O into O_ads and H₂. The s-shaped O 1s intensity-exposure curves are discussed on the basis of an autocatalytic process with a temperature dependent precursor state.     

Adsorption and decomposition of H2O on a K-covered Pt(111) surface

The adsorption of H₂O on clean and K-covered Pt(111) was investigated by utilizing Auger, X-ray and ultra-violet photoemission spectroscopies. The adsorption on Pt(111) at 100–150 K was purely molecular (ice formation) in agreement with previous work. No dissociation of this adsorbed H₂O was noted on heating to higher temperatures. On the other hand, adsorption of H₂O on Pt(111) + K leads to dissociation and to the formation of OH species which were characterized by a work function increase, an O 1s binding energy of 530.9 eV and UPS peaks at 4.7 and 8.7 eV below the Fermi level. The amount of OH formed was proportional to the K coverage for θ_K > 0.06 whereas no OH could be detected for θ? 0.06. Dissociation of H₂O occurred already at T = 100 K, with a sequential appearance of O 1s peaks at 531 and 533 eV representing OH and adsorbed H₂O, respectively. At room temperature and above only the OH species was observed. Annealing of the surface covered with coadsorbed K/OH indicated the high stability of this OH species which could be detected spectroscopically up to 570 K. The adsorption energy of H₂O coadsorbed with K and OH on Pt(111) is increased relative to that of H₂O on Pt. The work function due to this adsorbed H₂O increases whereas it decreases for H₂O on Pt(111). The energy shifts of valence and O1s core levels of H₂O on Pt + K as deduced from a comparison of gas phase and adsorbate spectra are 2.8–4.2 eV compared to ≈ 1.3–2.3 eV for H₂O on Pt (111). This increased relaxation energy shift suggests a charge transfer screening process for H₂O on Pt + K possibly involving the unoccupied 4a₁ orbital of H₂O. The occurrence of this mode of screening would be consistent with the higher adsorption energy of H₂O on Pt + K and with its high propensity to dissociate into OH and H.     

UPS and XPS studies of the chemisorption of O2, H2 AND H2O on reduced and stoichiometric SrTiO3(111) surfaces; The effects of illumination

About one monolayer of Ti³⁺ species is detectable at the surface of reduced SrTiO₃(111) single crystals by XPS and UPS. O₂, H₂ and H₂O have been adsorbed in the dark and the decrease on the concentration of the Ti³⁺ species has been monitored as a function of the gas exposures. Subsequent band gap illumination partially restores the Ti³⁺ initial concentration in the cases of O₂ and H₂ exposures but not in the case of H₂O. The Ti³⁺ photogeneration on the oxygen covered surface is associated with oxygen photodesorption as indicated by XPS and UPS. UPS measurements give evidence for surface hydroxylation resulting from water and hydrogen adsorption. The activity of the stoichiometric SrTiO₃(111) crystal face for O₂ and H₂ adsorption is very low when compared with the reduced SrTiO₃ samples.     

XPS,UPS and thermal desorption studies of alcohol adsorption on Cu(110): II. Higher alcohols

Preceding work dealing with the adsorption of methanol on Cu(110) has been extended to include ethanol, n- and iso-propanol and a diol, ethylene glycol. In common with the simplest alcohol, all these molecules are able to form a stable alkoxy species on the surface, that is, the alcohol dissociated at the O-H group. However, in contrast to methanol on the clean surface for which the dissociated methoxy and hydrogen recombined to desorb as methanol, all the higher alcohols reacted further with the surface, dehydrogenating to yield the corresponding aldehyde or ketone in the gas phase. Ethylene glycol reacted to form the most strongly bound intermediate of all, decomposing near 390 K to produce the dialdehyde, glyoxal, with little evidence of monoaldehyde formation or C-C bond breakage. The influence of pre-adsorbed oxygen on these reactions was to generally increase the amount of alkoxy formed on the surface by enhancing the amount of dissociative adsorption (water is formed by the deprotonation of adsorbed alcohol molecules by oxygen atoms). The alkoxide decomposition peaks were shifted to slightly higher temperatures and considerably broadened in such experiments. The decomposition peak temperatures of the different surface alkoxides correlate fairly well with literature values of the αC-H bond strength, which is weaker in iso-propanol than in methanol. XPS showed broad O(1s) spectra for all the molecules adsorbed at 140 K, probably due to hydrogen-bonding effects in the adlayer, with peak emissions at around 533 eV. When the surface was warmed to 250 K, the O(1s) spectra narrowed to close to instrumental linewidths with a concomitant shift to a lower binding energy near 531 eV. C(1s) spectra showed little change between the adsorbed alcohol and alkoxy species. The UPS showed low temperature spectra similar to the gas phase, but the highest occupied orbitals, which are essentially O(2p) orbitals, showed a chemisorption bonding shift of several tenths of an electron volt. UPS for these molecules is shown to have considerable less utility than for the simplest molecule, methanol, due to the masking of possible orbital shifts during chemical changes on the surface by the presence of overlapping emissions in the spectra.     

Interaction of O2, CO2, CO,C2H4 and C2H4O with Ag(110)

The interaction of O₂, CO₂, CO, C₂H₄ AND C₂H₄O with Ag(110) has been studied by low energy electron diffraction (LEED), temperature programmed desorption (TPD) and electron energy loss spectroscopy (EELS). For adsorbed oxygen the EELS and TPD signals are measured as a function of coverage (θ). Up to θ = 0.25 the EELS signal is proportional to coverage; above 0.25 evidence is found for dipole-dipole interaction as the EELS signal is no longer proportional to coverage. The TPD signal is not directly proportional to the oxygen coverage, which is explained by diffusion of part of the adsorbed oxygen into the bulk. Oxygen has been adsorbed both at pressures of less than 10^-4 Pa in an ultrahigh vacuum chamber and at pressures up to 10³ Pa in a preparation chamber. After desorption at 10³ Pa a new type of weakly bound subsurface oxygen is identified, which can be transferred to the surface by heating the crystal to 470 K. CO₂ is not adsorbed as such on clean silver at 300 K. However, it is adsorbed in the form of a carbonate ion if the surface is first exposed to oxygen. If the crystal is heated this complex decomposes into O_ad and CO₂ with an activation energy of 27 kcal/mol(1 kcal = 4.187 kJ). Up to an oxygen coverage of 0.25 one CO₂ molecule is adsorbed per two oxygen atoms on the surface. At higher oxygen coverages the amount of CO₂ adsorbed becomes smaller. CO readily reacts with O_ad at room temperature to form CO₂. This reaction has been used to measure the number of O atoms present on the surface at 300 K relative to the amount of CO₂ that is adsorbed at 300 K by the formation of a carbonate ion. Weakly bound subsurface oxygen does not react with CO at 300 K. Adsorption of C₂H₄O at 110 K is promoted by the presence of atomic oxygen. The activation energy for desorption of C₂H₄O from clean silver is ～ 9 kcal/mol, whereas on the oxygen-precovered surface two states are found with activation energies of 8.5 and 12.5 kcal/mol. The results are discussed in terms of the mechanism of ethylene epoxidation over unpromoted and unmoderated silver.     

The adsorption of CO,H2, H2, CO2 and H2O on carburized and graphitized Ni(110)

A study of the adsorption/desorption behavior of CO, H₂O, CO₂ and H₂ on Ni(110)(4 × 5)-C and Ni(110)-graphite was made in order to assess the importance of desorption as a rate-limiting step for the decomposition of formic acid and to identify available reaction channels for the decomposition. The carbide surface adsorbed CO and H₂O in amounts comparable to the clean surface, whereas this surface, unlike clean Ni(110), did not appreciably adsorb H₂. The binding energy of CO on the carbide was coverage sensitive, decreasing from 21 to 12 $\text{kcal}\text{mol}$ as the CO coverage approached 1.1 × 10¹⁵ molecules cm^?2 at 200K. The initial sticking probability and maximum coverage of CO on the carbide surface were close to that observed for clean Ni(110). The amount of H₂, CO, CO₂ and H₂O adsorbed on the graphitized surface was insignificant relative to the clean surface. The kinetics of adsorption/desorption of the states observed are discussed.     

Methanol decomposition on platinum (111)

The interaction of methanol with clean and oxygen-covered Pt(111) surfaces has been examined with high resolution electron loss spectroscopy (EELS) and thermal desorption spectroscopy (TDS). On the clean Pt(111) surface, methanol dehydrogenated above 140 K to form adsorbed carbon monoxide and hydrogen. On a Pt(111)-p(2 × 2)O surface, methanol formed a methoxy species (CH₃O) and adsorbed water. The methoxy species was unstable above 170 K and decomposed to form adsorbed CO and hydrogen. Above room temperature, hydrogen and carbon monoxide desorbed near 360 and 470 K, respectively. The instability of methanol and methoxy groups on the Pt surface is in agreement with the dehydrogenation reaction observed on W, Ru, Pd and Ni surfaces at low pressures. This is in contrast with the higher stability of methoxy groups on silver and copper surfaces, where decomposition to formaldehyde and hydrogen occurs. The hypothesis is proposed that metals with low heats of adsorption of CO and H₂ (Ag, Cu) may selectively form formaldehyde via the methoxy intermediate, whereas other metals with high CO and H₂ chemisorption heats rapidly dehydrogenate methoxy species below room temperature.