A LEED, TPD and HREELS investigation of NO adsorption on Sn/Pt(111) surface alloys

The adsorption of NO on Pt(111), and the (2 × 2)Sn/Pt(111) and (√3 × √3)R30°Sn/Pt(111) surface alloys has been studied using LEED, TPD and HREELS. NO adsorption produces a (2 × 2) LEED pattern on Pt(111) and a (2√3 × 2√3)R30° LEED pattern on the (2 × 2)Sn/Pt(111) surface. The initial sticking coefficient of NO on the (2 × 2)Sn/Pt(111) surface alloy at 100 K is the same as that on Pt(111), S₀ = 0.9, while the initial sticking coefficient of NO on the (√3 × √3)R30°Sn/Pt(111) surface decreases to 0.6. The presence of Sn in the surface layer of Pt(111) strongly reduces the binding energy of NO in contrast to the minor effect it has on CO. The binding energy of β-state NO is reduced by 8–10 kcal/mol on the Sn/Pt(111) surface alloys compared to Pt(111). HREELS data for saturation NO coverage on both surface alloys show two vibrational frequencies at 285 and 478 cm⁻¹ in the low frequency range and only one N-O stretching frequency at 1698 cm⁻¹. We assign this NO species as atop, bent-bonded NO. At small NO coverage, a species with a loss at 1455 cm⁻¹ was also observed on the (2 × 2)Sn/ Pt(111) surface alloy, similar to that observed on the Pt(111) surface. However, the atop, bent-bonded NO is the only species observed on the (√3 × √3)R30°Sn/Pt(111) surface alloy at any NO coverage studied.     

Bromine adsorption on Cu(111)

The dissociative chemisorption of molecular bromine on Cu(111) at 300 K has been studied using ultraviolet photoelectron spectroscopy (UPS), Auger electron spectroscopy (AES), low energy electron diffraction (LEED) and work function change measurements. A (√3 × √3)R30° structure is formed initially at a bromine coverage of 0.33 ML. This then converts to a (9√3 × 9√3)R30° compression structure with a coverage of 0.41 ML. The coincidence distance of the compression structure is determined entirely by the van der Waals diameter of adsorbed bromine. The applicability of using the van der Waals diameters of the three halogens, Cl, Br and I, to predict the saturation compression structures on Cu(111), is discussed.     

Theoretical studies of ultrathin film-induced faceting on W(111) surfaces

We have used local volume (or EAM) potentials to study the pyramidal faceting (or reconstruction) of a W(111) surface induced by face center cubic (fcc) metals Pd, Pt, Au, and a body center cubic (bcc) metal Mo. We found that the surface-energy differences of (211) and (111) surfaces of bcc W increases as one or few monolayers of Pd, Pt, Au, and Mo films are deposited. We found that the lateral relaxation which is allowed on the (211) surface further increases the surface energy anisotropy as the thickness of the fcc metal film increases. Our calculated results are consistent with the argument that the surface energy anisotropy is the driving force for the faceting, but do not rule out three-dimensional (3D) island growth as another possible mechanism for the (211) faceting. We also found that there is a possible bilayer growth mode in W(211) surfaces with Pt and Pd films.     

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.     

The adsorption of CO on Pt(111) studied by infrared-reflection-adsorption spectroscopy

The adsorption of CO on Pt(111) between 85K and 300K has been studied by infrared-reflection-absorption spectroscopy together with TPD and LEED. The intensity of the absorption band due to the CO stretch of the linear species shows a maximum at the formation of the (√3 × √3)R30° LEED pattern followed by a minimum at the c(4×2) structure during the adsorption of CO at low temperatures (150K). The absorption band due to the C-O stretch of the bridging species appears only after the formation of the (√3 × √3)R30° pattern and reaches maximum intensity at the c(4×2) structure. Adsorption of CO to higher coverages (corresponding to the compression structures) broadens and shifts this absorption band. At higher temperatures (150K) a third peak is observed at 40cm⁻¹ below the peak due to the bridging species and is attributed to adsorption in the three-fold sites. At 300K both peaks in this region are very broad. The intensity data differs from that measured with EELS (ref.1) and favors a “faultline” structure of the type proposed by Avery (ref.2). Together with the additional information from bandwidths it is possible to distinguish between the various structural models. The results obtained here may also be important in explaining data from other systems such as CO/Cu.     

A DFT study of H adsorption on Pt(111) and Pt-Ru(111) surfaces

In this work a comparative analysis between different Pt-Ru(111) surface models and pure Pt(111) surface is presented. Some aspects of the electronic structure of the surfaces and hydrogen adsorption are analysed based on density functional theory calculations. The hydrogen adsorption energy is significantly reduced when Ru is present on the surface. The substitution of Pt atoms by Ru atoms reinforce the Pt-H bond while the metal-metal bond is strongly modified, making the system less stable.     

Comparison between the adsorption properties of Pd(111) and PdCu(111) surfaces for carbon monoxide and hydrogen

Thermal desorption spectroscopy and LEED have been used to investigate the interaction of CO and hydrogen with a Pd_0.75Cu_0.25(111) single crystal surface with surface composition of about Pd_0.7Cu_0.3. The main objective was to make a comparison with the previously studied Pd_0.67Ag_0.33(111) (surface composition Pd_0.1Ag_0.9) and Pd(111) surfaces. In addition, the effect of preadsorbed H on subsequent CO dosage and the effect of adsorbed CO on postdosed hydrogen are described. Marked differences were found in the adsorption behaviour of the three surfaces towards CO and hydrogen. The maximum amount of H and CO that can be adsorbed at 250 K and pressures below 10⁻⁹ mbar is much lower on the PdCu surface than expected on the basis of the surface composition. This effect appears to be caused by a low heat of adsorption of hydrogen and CO and Pd singlet sites. Arguments are presented that singlet Pd sites or isolated Pd atoms in a Cu or Ag matrix are able to trap and dissociate the hydrogen molecule at 250 K. The CO desorption spectra are not influenced by pre- or postexposed hydrogen. Adsorbed CO hampers the uptake of hydrogen upon subsequent exposure to hydrogen. Postdosed CO causes adsorbed H adatoms to move to the bulk (adsorbed H). CO exposure at 250 K results in a very broad desorption plateau between 310 and 425 K with hardly discernable maxima. The results can be explained in terms of the size and relative concentration of the various Pd sites present on the surface (triplet, doublet and singlet sites). It can be concluded that for Pd (111) the heat of adsorption of both CO and H differ appreciably for the triplet, doublet and singlet sites. The effect of site has a larger contribution to the decrease of the heat of adsorption with coverage than the effect of lateral interaction in the adlayer. For Pd(111), PdCu(111) and PdAg(111) the effect of the available Pd sites is the major effect that determines the heat of adsorption, followed by the effect of lateral interaction and for the alloy surfaces the electronic or ligand effect.     

Atomic structures on faceted W(111) surfaces induced by ultrathin films of Pd

The faceting of Pd/W(111) surfaces has been studied using a Scanning tunneling microscope (STM). Three-sided pyramidal facets having {211} faces with dimensions ranging from 3 to 15 nm can be induced by ultrathin Pd films (≥ 1 monolayer), upon annealing to 700 K or higher. From atomic-resolution STM-images of these surfaces, we obtain direct confirmation of the {211} structure on individual facets of the 3-sided pyramids. In addition, the atomic structure of the facet edges indicates that edge energy may play a role in faceting. When the as-deposited coverage of Pd is greater than the critical value ( 1 monolayer) for inducing faceting, the extra Pd atoms diffuse to form 3-dimensional clusters, some with discernible crystalline structures, upon annealing.     

A photoemission study of 4H---SiC(0001)

A photoemission study using synchrotron radiation of the (0001) surface of 4H-SiC is reported. The investigations were concentrated on the (√3 × √3)-R30° and (6√3 × 6√3)-R30° reconstructed surfaces, prepared by resistive heating at a temperature of about 1000°C and 1250°C, respectively. Results from surfaces heated at intermediate temperatures, exhibiting a mixture of these reconstructions, and after heating at a higher temperature, when graphitisation is clearly observed, are also presented. The √3 and 6√3 reconstructed surfaces exhibit characteristic core level and valence band spectra. High resolution core level spectra show unambiguously the presence of surface shifted components in both the Si 2p and C 1s core levels. For the √3 reconstruction, two surface shifted components are observed both in the Si 2p and C 1s level. For the 6√3 reconstruction, the surface region is found to contain a considerably larger amount of carbon. This carbon is found not to be graphitic since surface C 1s components with binding energies different from a graphitic C 1s peak are observed. Graphitisation, as revealed by the appearance of a graphitic C 1s peak, is observed only after heating to a higher temperature than that required for obtaining a well developed 6√3 diffraction pattern.     

Photoexcited processes at metal and alloy surfaces: electronic structure and adsorption site

Photoexcited processes of NO and CO at photon energies ranging from 2.3 to 6.4 eV are investigated on Pt(111), Ni(111) and Pt(111)---Ge surface alloys by reflection-absorption infrared spectroscopy and resonance-enhanced multiphoton ionization. The branching between three competitive processes of desorption, recapture and dissociation upon laser irradiation is dramatically changed on the three surfaces. On Pt(111), NO is either photodesorbed or photodissociated depending on the coverage, while NO is exclusively photodissociated on Ni(111). UV-photon irradiation of NO on Pt(111)---Ge, on the other hand, induces only desorption of NO. Desorption of CO bound at the on-top site of Pt(111) is induced by laser irradiation. The electronic mechanism for photodesorption and competitive branching is discussed in terms of the electronic structure of the substrate and the adsorbate.     

NH3在Ni/Pt(111)和Ni/WC(001)表面上分解的第一性原理研究

采用密度泛函理论和slab模型,研究NH₃在Ni单原子层覆盖的Pt（111）和WC（001）表面上的物理与化学行为,计算了Ni单原子覆盖表面的电子结构以及NH₃的吸附与分解.表面覆盖的单原子层中,Ni原子的性质与Ni（111）面上的Ni原子明显不同.与Ni（111）相比,Ni/Pt（111）和Ni/WC（001）表面上Ni原子dz²轨道上的电子更多地转移到了其它位置,该轨道上电荷密度降低有利于NH₃吸附.在Ni/Pt（111）和Ni/WC（001）面上NH₃吸附能均大于Ni（111）,NH₃分子第一个N-H键断裂的活化能则明显比Ni（111）面上低,有利于NH₃的分解,吸附能增大使NH₃在Ni/Pt（111）和Ni/WC（001）面上更倾向于分解,而不是脱附.N₂分子的生成是NH₃分解的速控步骤,该反应能垒较高,说明N₂分子只有在较高温度下才能生成.WC与Pt性质相似,但Ni/Pt（111）和Ni/WC（001）的电子结构还是有差异的,与Ni（111）表面相比,NH₃在Ni/Pt（111）表面上分解速控步骤的能垒降低,而在Ni/WC（001）上却升高.要获得活性好且便宜的催化剂,需要对Ni/WC（001）表面做进一步改进,降低N₂分子生成步骤的活化能.     

Observation of sputtering damage on Au(111)

The morphology of a Au(111) surface has been observed with the STM (scanning tunneling microscope) after ion bombardment with 2.5 keV Ne⁺ ions at about 400 K. Mostly triangular and hexagonal shaped vacancy islands are seen in the STM topographs. They are bounded by monatomic steps, oriented along the closed packed 110 directions. The general morphology confirms the conclusions inferred from TEAS (thermal energy atom scattering) measurements on ion bombarded Pt(111) surfaces. The observation of a propensity for the formation of {100} microfacetted 110 ledges is discussed.     

The structures of sulphur on Pd(111) studied by X-ray standing wavefield absorption and surface EXAFS

The surface structures of R30°-S and R19.1°-S on Pd(111) have been investigated by normal incidence X-ray standing wave (NIXSW) absorption and surface extended X-ray absorption fine structure (SEXAFS). NIXSW measurements show that the most likely site of S adsorption in the R30° phase is the threefold “fcc” hollow. The location of the S atoms at the “fcc” hollow site is consistent with S adsorption on the neighbouring fcc (111) transition metal surfaces. SEXAFS analysis revealed a S–Pd nearest neighbour bond distance of 2.28±0.04 Å. The results for the R19.1° phase suggest that the structure involves a mixed S–Pd overlayer, with the S–Pd vertical layer spacing equal to the Pd bulk 111 spacing.     

CO stretching vibrations on Pt(111) and Pt(110) studied by sumfrequency generation

Optical sum-frequency generation (SFG) is used to characterize CO stretching vibrations on Pt(111) and Pt(110) surfaces. Different adsorption sites (terminal, bridge and step sites) are identified in the SFG spectra of CO on Pt(111), in good quantitative agreement with previous infrared reflection-absorption experiments on this system. For CO on Pt(110) we only observe CO molecules on terminal sites. The measured CO stretching vibration frequencies on Pt(110), both for low and high coverages, are at variance with the results of previous infrared studies. Our SFG results for CO on Pt(110) are confirmed by independent EELS measurements which, in addition, also reveal the frustrated rotational mode and the metal-CO vibration. The measured frequency of 2065 cm⁻¹ for low CO coverage on Pt(110)-(1 × 2) is consistent with a previously proposed empirical relation between the frequency of an isolated adsorbed CO molecule and the coordination number of the binding Pt surface atom.     

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.     

Structure and reactivity of bimetallic electrochemical interfaces: infrared spectroscopic studies of carbon monoxide adsorption and formic acid electrooxidation on antimony-modified Pt(100) and Pt(111)

The influence of predosed antimony on the adlayer structures of carbon monoxide and on the electro-oxidation kinetics of formic acid on Pt(100) and Pt(111) in 0.1M HClO₄ is examined by means of in-situ infrared spectroscopy in conjunction with cyclic voltammetry. Preadsorbed antimony inhibits the adsorption of CO on these surfaces, the attenuation in CO coverage being accompanied by a selective removal of the two-fold bridging geometry as deduced from the relative ν_CO band intensities. At saturation antimony coverages, the CO binding is exclusively terminal on Pt(100) and Pt(111). These findings are consistent with the adsorption of antimony at multi-fold sites, yielding microscopically intermixed adlayers with CO. The electro-oxidation rates of formic acid are enhanced substantially by preadsorbed antimony on Pt(100) and Pt(111). The real-time infrared spectra in the C-O stretching region and the CO coverages thereby deduced in the presence of predosed antimony under reactive voltammetric conditions suggest that the metal adatoms are actively involved in the dissociation of formic acid. The origins of the enhanced electrocatalytic activity of the bimetallic Sb/Pt surfaces are discussed in terms of geometric and chemical effects.     

The adsorption of carbon monoxide on TiO2(110) supported palladium

Palladium overlayers deposited on TiO₂(110) by metal vapour deposition have been investigated using LEED, XPS and FT-RAIRS of adsorbed CO. Low coverages of palladium (<3 ML) deposited at 300 K adsorb CO exclusively in a bridged configuration with a band (B₁ at 1990 cm⁻¹) characteristic of CO adsorption on Pd(110) and Pd(100) surfaces. When annealed to 500 K, XPS and LEED indicate the nucleation of Pd particles on which CO adsorbs predominantly as a strongly bound linear species which we associate with edge sites on the Pd particles (L* band at 2085 cm⁻¹). Both bridged and linear CO bands are exhibited as increases in reflectivity at the resonant frequency, indicating the retention of small particle size during the annealing process. Palladium overlayers of intermediate coverages (10–20 ML) deposited at 300 K undergo some nucleation during growth, and adsorbed CO exhibits both absorption and transmission bands in the B₁ (1990 cm⁻¹) and B₂ (1940 cm⁻¹) regions. The latter is associated with the formation of Pd(111) facets. Highly dispersed Pd particles are produced on annealing at 500 K. This is evidenced by the dominance of transmission bands for adsorbed CO and a significant concentration of edge sites, which accommodate the strongly bound linear species at 300 K. Adsorption of CO at low temperature also allows the identification of the constituent faces of Pd and the conversion of Pd(110)/(100) facets to Pd(111) facets during the annealing process. High coverages of palladium (100 ML) produce only absorption bands in FT-RAIRS of adsorbed CO associated with the Pd facets, but annealing these surfaces also shows a conversion to Pd(111) facets. LEED indicates that at coverages above 10 ML, the palladium particles exhibit (111) facets parallel to the substrate and aligned with the TiO₂(110) unit cell, and that this ordering in the particles is enhanced by annealing.     

The hydrogenation of CN on Pd(111) and Pd(100)

Adsorbed CN may be produced on Pd(111) and Pd(100) surfaces at RT by dissociative adsorption of cyanogen. HREELS measurements show that adsorbed CN forms adsorbed HCN or DCN on these Pd surfaces by reaction with H adsorbed from the residual gas or by dosing with H₂ or D₂. The reaction temperature is slighly lower for Pd(100) than for Pd(111), and the range of temperatures over which the reaction takes place much narrower. The reaction occurs on a time scale easily monitored with HREELS.     

Pd deposits on Ni(111): a theoretical study

The ASED-MO method has been used to gather electronic and energetic information on Pd deposits on Ni(111) and Pd atom inclusion in the first Ni layer since these model catalysts exhibit a striking catalytic efficiency towards butadiene hydrogenation. The electronic structure of Pd atoms is strongly altered compared with pure Pd. A Pd(4d)→Pd(5s) electronic transfer occurs in the case of the deposit when a slight similar transfer and a charge transfer from Pd to surrounding Ni takes place in the case of the inclusion. Those results are consistent with XPS experimental data. A low density of states, near the Fermi level, is also observed. The optimal geometrical situation for Pd deposits is found to be 2D-aggregates (in pseudoepitaxy or pseudomorphy with the underlying Ni surface, depending on the aggregate size). Small aggregates (part of the first Ni layer) are found to be the most stable in the case of a Pd inclusion in the Ni with a Pd---Pd distance of 2.64 Å, in agreement with available EXAFS experimental data.     

Surface interactions of Au(I) cyclo-trimer with Au(111) and Al(111) surfaces: A computational study

A plane-wave density functional theory (DFT) study on surface interactions of a cyclo-[Au(μ-Pz)]₃ monolayer (denoted as T), Pz = pyrazolate, with Au(111) and Al(111) surfaces (denoted as M′) has been performed. Structural and electronic properties at the M′–T interfaces are determined from individually optimized structures of M′, T and M′–T. Results show that the gold pyrazolate trimer (T) binds more strongly on the Au(111) surface than on Al(111). Charge redistribution has been observed at both M′–T interfaces, where charge is “pushed” back towards the Au(111) surface from the trimer monolayer in Au(111)–T system, while the opposite happens in the Al(111)–T system where the charge is being pushed toward the trimer monolayer from the Al(111) surface. Considerable changes to the work function of Au(111) and Al(111) surfaces upon the trimer adsorption which arise from monolayer vacuum level shifts and dipole formation at the interfaces are calculated. The interaction between cyclo-[Au(μ-Pz)]₃ with metal surfaces causes band broadening of the gold pyrazolate trimer in M′–T systems. The present study aids better understanding of the role of intermolecular interactions, bond dipoles, energy-level alignment and electronic coupling at the interface of metal electrodes and organometallic semiconductor to help design metal–organic field effect transistors (MOFETs) and other organometallic electronic devices.