| 1. |
- Grånäs, Elin, et al.
(författare)
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Role of hydroxylation for the atomic structure of a non-polar vicinal zinc oxide
- 2021
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Ingår i: Communications Chemistry. - : Springer Science and Business Media LLC. - 2399-3669. ; 4:1
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- From the catalytic, semiconducting, and optical properties of zinc oxide (ZnO) numerous potential applications emerge. For the physical and chemical properties of the surface, under-coordinated atoms often play an important role, necessitating systematic studies of their influence. Here we study the vicinal ZnO(10 1 ¯ 4) surface, rich in under-coordinated sites, using a combination of several experimental techniques and density functional theory calculations. We determine the atomic-scale structure and find the surface to be a stable, long-range ordered, non-polar facet of ZnO, with a high step-density and uniform termination. Contrary to an earlier suggested nano-faceting model, a bulk termination fits much better to our experimental observations. The surface is further stabilized by dissociatively adsorbed H2O on adjacent under-coordinated O- and Zn-atoms. The stabilized surface remains highly active for water dissociation through the remaining under-coordinated Zn-sites. Such a vicinal oxide surface is a prerequisite for future adsorption studies with atomically controlled local step and terrace geometry.
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| 2. |
- Barbier, Antoine, et al.
(författare)
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Editorial
- 2016
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Ingår i: Physics Procedia. - : Elsevier BV. - 1875-3884 .- 1875-3892. ; 85, s. 1-3
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Editorial comments about the proceedings of EMRS Symposium C: In situ studies of functional nano materials at large scale facilities: From model systems to applications, EMRS Spring Meeting.
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| 3. |
- Gensch, Marc, et al.
(författare)
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Correlating Nanostructure, Optical and Electronic Properties of Nanogranular Silver Layers during Polymer-Template-Assisted Sputter Deposition
- 2019
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Ingår i: ACS Applied Materials and Interfaces. - : AMER CHEMICAL SOC. - 1944-8244 .- 1944-8252. ; 11:32, s. 29416-29426
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Tailoring the optical and electronic properties of nanostructured polymer-metal composites demonstrates great potential for efficient fabrication of modern organic optical and electronic devices such as flexible sensors, transistors, diodes, or photovoltaics. Self-assembled polymer metal nanocomposites offer an excellent perspective for creating hierarchical nanostructures on macroscopic scales by simple bottom-up processes. We investigate the growth processes of nanogranular silver (Ag) layers on diblock copolymer thin film templates during sputter deposition. The Ag growth is strongly driven by self-assembly and selective wetting on the lamella structure of polystyrene-block-poly (methyl methacrylate). We correlate the emerging nanoscale morphologies with collective optical and electronic properties and quantify the difference in Ag growth on the corresponding homopolymer thin films. Thus, we are able to determine the influence of the respective polymer template and observe substrate effects on the Ag cluster percolation threshold, which affects the insulator-to-metal transition (IMT). Optical spectroscopy in the UV-vis regime reveals localized surface plasmon resonance for the metal polymer composite. Their maximum absorption is observed around the IMT due to the subsequent long-range electron conduction in percolated nanogranular Ag layers. Using X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy and Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy, we identify the oxidation of Ag at the acrylate side chains as an essential influencing factor driving the selective wetting behavior in the early growth stages. The results of polymer-templated cluster growth are corroborated by atomic force microscopy and field emission scanning electron microscopy.
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| 4. |
- Gleißner, Robert, et al.
(författare)
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Role of Oxidation–Reduction Dynamics in the Application of Cu/ZnO-Based Catalysts
- 2023
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Ingår i: ACS Applied Nano Materials. - 2574-0970. ; 6:9, s. 8004-8016
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- We investigated Cu nanoparticles (NPs) on vicinal and basal ZnO supports to obtain an atomistic picture of the catalyst’s structure under in situ oxidizing and reducing conditions. The Cu/ZnO model catalysts were investigated at elevated gas pressures by high energy grazing incidence X-ray diffraction and ambient pressure X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (AP-XPS). We find that the Cu nanoparticles are fully oxidized to Cu2O under atmospheric conditions at room temperature. As the nanoparticles swell during oxidation, they maintain their epitaxy on basal ZnO (000 ± 1) surfaces, whereas on the vicinal ZnO (101̅4) surface, the nanoparticles undergo a coherent tilt. We find that the oxidation process is fully reversible under H2 flow at 500 K, resulting in predominantly well-aligned nanoparticles on the basal surfaces, whereas the orientation of Cu NPs on vicinal ZnO was only partially restored. The analysis of the substrate crystal truncation rods evidences the stability of basal ZnO surfaces under all gas conditions. No Cu–Zn bulk alloy formation is observed. Under CO2 flow, no diffraction signal from the nanoparticles is detected, pointing to their completely disordered state. The AP-XPS results are in line with the formation of CuO. Scanning electron microscopy images show that massive mass transport has set in, leading to the formation of larger agglomerates.
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| 5. |
- Gustafson, Johan, et al.
(författare)
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High-energy surface X-ray diffraction for fast surface structure determination
- 2014
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Ingår i: Science. - : American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS). - 0036-8075 .- 1095-9203. ; 343:6172, s. 758-761
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Understanding the interaction between surfaces and their surroundings is crucial in many materials-science fields such as catalysis, corrosion, and thin-film electronics, but existing characterization methods have not been capable of fully determining the structure of surfaces during dynamic processes, such as catalytic reactions, in a reasonable time frame. We demonstrate an x-ray-diffraction–based characterization method that uses high-energy photons (85 kiloelectron volts) to provide unexpected gains in data acquisition speed by several orders of magnitude and enables structural determinations of surfaces on time scales suitable for in situ studies. We illustrate the potential of high-energy surface x-ray diffraction by determining the structure of a Pd surface in situ during catalytic CO oxidation and follow dynamic restructuring of the surface with subsecond time resolution.
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| 6. |
- Hartl, Tobias, et al.
(författare)
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Carbon Embedding of Pt Cluster Superlattices Templated by Hexagonal Boron Nitride on Ir(111)
- 2021
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Ingår i: Journal of Physical Chemistry C. - : American Chemical Society (ACS). - 1932-7447 .- 1932-7455. ; 125:42, s. 23435-23444
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- With the goal to delevop the fabrication of a new type of Pt-nanoparticle carbon-support electrocatalyst, we investigate the carbon embedding of Pt cluster superlattices grown on the moiré of a monolayer of hexagonal boron nitride (h-BN) on Ir(111). Our combined scanning tunneling microscopy (STM) and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) study establishes conformal C embedding of the Pt clusters on h-BN/Ir(111) without deterioration of superlattice order, preferential and strong binding of the embedding carbon to the Pt clusters, and upon annealing the formation of a homogeneous amorphous carbon (a-C) matrix. There are indications that while the a-C matrix and the Pt clusters bind strongly to each other, upon annealing both weaken their binding to h-BN.
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| 7. |
- Hejral, Uta, et al.
(författare)
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High energy surface x-ray diffraction applied to model catalyst surfaces at work
- 2021
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Ingår i: Journal of Physics: Condensed Matter. - 1361-648X. ; 33:7, s. 73001-73001
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Catalysts are materials that accelerate the rate of a desired chemical reaction. As such, they constitute an integral part in many applications ranging from the production of fine chemicals in chemical industry to exhaust gas treatment in vehicles. Accordingly, it is of utmost economic interest to improve catalyst efficiency and performance, which requires an understanding of the interplay between the catalyst structure, the gas phase and the catalytic activity under realistic reaction conditions at ambient pressures and elevated temperatures. In recent years efforts have been made to increasingly develop techniques that allow for investigating model catalyst samples under conditions closer to those of real technical catalysts. One of these techniques is high energy surface x-ray diffraction (HESXRD), which uses x-rays with photon energies typically in the range of 70-80 keV. HESXRD allows a fast data collection of three dimensional reciprocal space for the structure determination of model catalyst samples under operando conditions and has since been used for the investigation of an increasing number of different model catalysts. In this article we will review general considerations of HESXRD including its working principle for different model catalyst samples and the experimental equipment required. An overview over HESXRD investigations performed in recent years will be given, and the advantages of HESXRD with respect to its application to different model catalyst samples will be presented. Moreover, the combination of HESXRD with other operando techniques such as in situ mass spectrometry, planar laser-induced fluorescence and surface optical reflectance will be discussed. The article will close with an outlook on future perspectives and applications of HESXRD.
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| 8. |
- Hejral, Uta, et al.
(författare)
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Tracking the shape-dependent sintering of platinum-rhodium model catalysts under operando conditions.
- 2016
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Ingår i: Nature Communications. - : Springer Science and Business Media LLC. - 2041-1723. ; 7
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Nanoparticle sintering during catalytic reactions is a major cause for catalyst deactivation. Understanding its atomic-scale processes and finding strategies to reduce it is of paramount scientific and economic interest. Here, we report on the composition-dependent three-dimensional restructuring of epitaxial platinum-rhodium alloy nanoparticles on alumina during carbon monoxide oxidation at 550 K and near-atmospheric pressures employing in situ high-energy grazing incidence x-ray diffraction, online mass spectrometry and a combinatorial sample design. For platinum-rich particles our results disclose a dramatic reaction-induced height increase, accompanied by a corresponding reduction of the total particle surface coverage. We find this restructuring to be progressively reduced for particles with increasing rhodium composition. We explain our observations by a carbon monoxide oxidation promoted non-classical Ostwald ripening process during which smaller particles are destabilized by the heat of reaction. Its driving force lies in the initial particle shape which features for platinum-rich particles a kinetically stabilized, low aspect ratio.
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| 9. |
- Jensen, Thomas N., et al.
(författare)
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Correlation between stoichiometry and surface structure of the polar MgAl2O4(100) surface as a function of annealing temperature
- 2015
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Ingår i: Physical Chemistry Chemical Physics. - : Royal Society of Chemistry (RSC). - 1463-9084 .- 1463-9076. ; 17:8, s. 5795-5804
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- The correlation between surface structure, stoichiometry and atomic occupancy of the polar MgAl2O4(100) surface has been studied with an interplay of noncontact atomic force microscopy, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy and surface X-ray diffraction under ultrahigh vacuum conditions. The Al/Mg ratio is found to significantly increase as the surface is sputtered and annealed in oxygen at intermediate temperatures ranging from 1073-1273 K. The Al excess is explained by the observed surface structure, where the formation of nanometer-sized pits and elongated patches with Al terminated step edges contribute to stabilizing the structure by compensating surface polarity. Surface X-ray diffraction reveals a reduced occupancy in the top two surface layers for both Mg, Al, and O and, moreover, vacancies are preferably located in octahedral sites, indicating that Al and Mg ions interchange sites. The excess of Al and high concentration of octahedral vacancies, very interestingly, indicates that the top few surface layers of the MgAl2O4(100) adopts a surface structure similar to that of a spinel-like transition Al2O3 film. However, after annealing at a high temperature of 1473 K, the Al/Mg ratio restores to its initial value, the occupancy of all elements increases, and the surface transforms into a well-defined structure with large flat terraces and straight step edges, indicating a restoration of the surface stoichiometry. It is proposed that the tetrahedral vacancies at these high temperatures are filled by Mg from the bulk, due to the increased mobility at high annealing temperatures.
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| 10. |
- Linpé, Weronica, et al.
(författare)
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Revisiting Optical Reflectance from Au(111) Electrode Surfaces with Combined High-Energy Surface X-ray Diffraction
- 2021
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Ingår i: Journal of the Electrochemical Society. - : Electrochemical Society. - 0013-4651 .- 1945-7111. ; 168:9
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- We have combined high-energy surface X-ray diffraction (HESXRD) with 2D surface optical reflectance (2D-SOR) to perform in situ electrochemical measurements of a Au(111) electrode in 0.1 M HClO4 electrolyte. We show that electrochemically induced changes to Au(111) surface during cyclic voltammetry can be simultaneously observed with 2D-SOR and HESXRD. We discuss how small one atom high 1x1 islands, accommodating excess atoms after the lifting of the surface reconstruction, can lead to discrepancies between the two techniques. The use of HESXRD allows us to simultaneously detect parts of the truncation rods from the (1 x 1) surface termination and the p x root 3 electrochemically induced surface reconstruction, during cyclic voltammetry. The presence of reconstruction phenomena is shown to not depend on having an ideally prepared surface and can in fact be observed after going to very oxidizing potentials. 2D-SOR can also detect the oxidation of the Au surface, however no oxide peaks are detected in the HESXRD signal, which is evidence that any Au oxide is X-ray amorphous.
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