The adsorption of sulfur on the platinum (100) surface

Clean platinum (100) surfaces of 1× 1 and 5 × 20 structure were exposed to H₂S. Surface coverage with Sulfur followed Langmuir kinetics, which, together with LEED data, points to a repulsive interaction between sulfur atoms. Sulfur adsorption causes a decrease in the work function of platinum by 0.7 eV at saturation coverage. This is attributed to polarization, rather than ionization, of the adsorbed sulfur. Photoemission measurements are difficult to interpret because of two-dimensional periodicity and the overlap of electronic structure of the adsorbate with the platinum d band. We observe peaks due to sulfur at 6.3, 4.5, and 2.5 eV below the Fermi level for the c(2 × 2) overlayer and at 6.8, 4.5, and 2.0 eV below E_F for the p(2 × 2) surface. A tentative interpretation in terms of sulfur orbitals is given. The decrease in work function and analogy with the properties of PtS₂ lead us to propose covalent bonding of sulfur to platinum, in which every sulfur atom is bonded to four Pt neighbors in both structures. The repulsive interaction between sulfur atoms is indirect through the platinum substrate.