The Acid-Base Properties and Chemical Composition of the Surface of the InSb-ZnTe System

The acid-base properties and chemical composition of the surface of solid solutions and binary components of the InSb-ZnTe system were studied by the hydrolytic adsorption, nonaqueous conductometric titration, mechanochemistry, IR spectroscopy, and mass spectrometry methods. The strength, nature, and concentration of acid centers were determined. Changes in the concentration of acid centers caused by surface exposure to CO and changes in the composition of the system were also studied. The mechanism of acid-base interactions was established. The chemical composition of the surface of system components exposed to air included adsorbed H₂O molecules, OH⁻ groups, hydrocarbon and oxocarbon compounds, and the products of surface atom oxidation. After thermal treatment in a vacuum, the composition of the surface approached the stoichiometric composition. Original Russian Text ? I.A. Kirovskaya, E.G. Shubenkova, O.T. Timoshenko, T.N. Filatova, 2008, published in Zhurnal Fizicheskoi Khimii, 2008, Vol. 82, No. 4, pp. 732–738.