Carbon films grown on Pt(1 1 1) as supports for model gold catalysts

Carbon films were grown on a Pt(1 1 1) single crystal by ethylene decomposition at elevated temperatures (1000-1300 K). Depending on the preparation conditions, different carbon structures formed on the metal surface such as flat and curved graphitic layers, carbon particles and carbon nanowires. Although these carbon films exhibited a high density of surface defects, gold interacted only weakly with the carbon surface. CO adsorption on the Au/carbon systems was very similar to that observed for various Au/oxide systems previously studied. This finding strongly indicates that CO adsorption on gold is essentially independent of the nature of support.