Oxygen chemisorption and the carbon monoxide-oxygen interaction on Ru(101)

The adsorption of oxygen and the interaction of carbon monoxide with oxygen on Ru(101) have been studied by LEED, Auger spectroscopy and thermal desorption. Oxygen chemisorbs at 300 K via a precursor state and with an initial sticking probability of ~0.004, the enthalpy of adsorption being ~300 kJ mol^?1. As coverage increases a well ordered ¦11,30¦ phase is formed which at higher coverages undergoes compression along [010] to form a ¦21,50¦ structure, and the surface eventually saturates at 0 ~ $\text{8}\text{9}$. Incorporation of oxygen into the subsurface region of the crystal leads to drastic changes in the surface chemistry of CO. A new high; temperature peak (γ CO, E_d ~ 800 kJ mol^?1) appears in the desorption spectra, in addition to the α and β CO peaks which are characteristic of the clean surface. Coadsorption experiments using ¹⁸O₂ indicate that γ CO is not dissociatively adsorbed, and this species is also shown to be in competition with β CO for a common adsorption site. The unusual temperature dependence of the LEED intensities of the ¦11,30¦-O phase and the nature of α, β, and β CO are discussed. Oxygen does not displace adsorbed CO at 300 K and the converse is also true, neither do any Eley-Rideal or Langmuir-Hinshelwood reactions occur under these conditions. Such processes do occur at higher temperatures, and in particular the reaction CO(g) + O(a) → CO₂(g) appears to occur with much greater collisional efficiency than on Ru(001). The oxidation of CO has been examined under steady state conditions, and the reaction was found to proceed with an apparent activation energy of 39 kJ mol^?. This result rules out the commonly accepted explanation that CO desorption is rate determining, and is compared with the findings of other authors.     

Formation and microstructure of cubic metastable iron silicides synthesized during pulsed laser annealing

Hyperfine Interactions - The phase formation and crystallization processes of metastable [CsCl]Fe1?x Si phases were investigated by irradiating?-FeSi/Si(111) thin films with a pulsed...     

Study of Phase Formations in ε-FeSi Layers by Pulsed Laser Annealing

Pulsed laser annealing has been applied on ε-FeSi layers in order to study the formation of (meta)stable iron silicides. Laser shots of different energy density were applied and/or the number of laser shots was also varied. Characterisation was performed using Rutherford Backscattering Spectroscopy (RBS)/Channelling and Conversion Electron Mössbauer Spectroscopy (CEMS). The reaction mechanisms of the Fe/Si system as well as the stability of the phases are discussed.     

Formation of hybrid 2D polymer-metal microobjects

This paper describes a fabrication strategy based on polymer brushes (20-150 nm thick) and soft lithographic techniques, for creating hydrophobic, cross-linked, laterally patterned polymer films. The hydrophobicity of the resulting micrometer-scale "quasi-2D" objects is shown to allow the polymer to act as an etch resist. By adjusting the etching time, we demonstrate that underetching of the gold from underneath the edges of the laterally patterned films can be used to create free-standing polymer-gold hybrid structures. These structures retain their structural integrity when lifted wholly or partially from the substrate and can hence be imaged in suspension. Characterization of the quasi-2D objects was carried out using atomic force microscopy (AFM), ellipsometry, optical microscopy, and Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR). A continuous film, containing embedded polymer-gold objects, can be lifted, folded, and re-deposited onto a substrate without damaging the conductivity of the embedded metallic objects.     

Exploring Actuation and Mechanotransduction Properties of Polymer Brushes

Soft nanotechnology requires new approaches and materials to efficiently convert chemical energy into mechanical motion and vice versa. A number of key design parameters, such as responsiveness to external stimuli, directionality of response through alignment, transduction via surface stresses or changes in ionic conductivity can be found in polymer brushes and several recent examples of actuation and transduction in polymer brushes will be explored.

     

The role of primary and secondary electrons in electron induced desorption and dissociation: CO on Pt(111)

The electron impact desorption and dissociation of CO on Pt(111) has been studied under conditions which are fairly typical in Auger Electron Spectroscopy. It was found that desorption was about twenty times faster than dissociation, and the apparent cross sections for these processes were measured. By studying the dependence of these cross sections on electron beam incidence angle, it was shown that most of the disruption of the CO adlayer was caused by the relatively slow backscattered electrons rather than the fast primary beam. The Auger spectrum of adsorbed CO was measured and the relative Auger yields from carbon present as adsorbed CO and as surface carbide were obtained.     

Chemisorption studies on cobalt single crystal surfaces: I. Carbon monoxide on Co(0001)

The chemisorption of CO on Co(0001) and on a polycrystalline specimen has been studied by LEED, Auger spectroscopy, and thermal desorption measurements. Annealing of the polycrystal was found to result in a surface dominated by crystallites of (0001) orientation in the surface plane, along with a few (101̄2) oriented crystallites. CO adsorbs on the clean surface at 300 K with an initial sticking probability of 0.9 and the system follows precursor state kinetics. The saturation coverage under UHV conditions corresponds to a well-ordered (√3 × √3)R30° structure; with P_CO>5 × 10^-9 a uniform compression of the adlayer takes place and a (√7 × √7)R19.2° structure begins to form. Models are proposed for these two ordered phases which are in agreement with the observed relative coverage data and the appearance of the corresponding desorption spectra. The desorption enthalpy of CO at low coverages is 103 ± 8 kJmol^-1, and a fairly sharp fall in this enthalpy occurs for coverages $\text{>}\text{1}\text{3}$. In many respects, the system's behaviour closely resembles that of Ni(111)-CO. Oxygen contamination leads to the appearance of a strongly adsorbed CO state with a desorption enthalpy of ~170 kJmol^-1. This is reminiscent of a strongly adsorbed non-dissociated state of CO on Ru(101̄1) which occurs under similar conditions.