| 1. |
- Albertin, S., et al.
(författare)
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Surface optical reflectance combined with x-ray techniques during gas-surface interactions
- 2020
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Ingår i: Journal of Physics D. - : Institute of Physics (IOP). - 0022-3727 .- 1361-6463. ; 53:22
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- High energy surface x-ray diffraction (HESXRD), x-ray reflectivity (XRR), mass spectrometry (MS) and surface optical reflectance (SOR) have been combined to simultaneously obtain sub-second information on the surface structure and morphology from a Pd(100) model catalyst during in situ oxidation at elevated temperatures and pressures resulting in Pd bulk oxide formation. The results show a strong correlation between the HESXRD and SOR signal intensities during the experiment, enabling phase determination and a time-resolved thickness estimation of the oxide by HESXRD, complemented by XRR measurements. The experiments show a remarkable sensitivity of the SOR to changes in the surface phase and morphology, in particular to the initial stages of oxidation/reduction. The data imply that SOR can detect the formation of an ultrathin PdO surface oxide layer of only 2-3 angstrom thickness.
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| 2. |
- Garcia-Martinez, Fernando, et al.
(författare)
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Catalytic oxidation of CO on a curved Pt(111) surface : simultaneous ignition at all facets through a transient CO-O complex.
- 2020
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Ingår i: Angewandte Chemie International Edition. - : John Wiley & Sons. - 1433-7851 .- 1521-3773. ; 59:45, s. 20037-20043
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- The catalytic oxidation of carbon monoxide (CO) on transition metals, such as platinum (Pt), is commonly viewed as a sharp transition from the CO-inhibited surface to the active metal, covered with oxygen (O). However, we find that minor amounts of O are present in the CO-poisoned layer that explain why, surprisingly, CO desorbs at stepped and flat Pt crystal planes at once, regardless of the reaction conditions. Using near-ambient pressure X-ray photoemission and a curved Pt(111) crystal we probe the chemical composition at surfaces with variable step density during the CO oxidation reaction. The systematic analysis of carbon and oxygen core levels across the curved crystal reveals that, right before light-off, subsurface O builds up within (111) terraces. This is key to trigger the simultaneous ignition of the catalytic reaction at different Pt surfaces, as indicated by ab-initio theory: a CO-Pt-O complex is formed that equals the CO chemisorption energy at terraces and steps, leading to the abrupt desorption of poisoning CO from all crystal facets at the same temperature.
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| 3. |
- Garcia-Martinez, Fernando, et al.
(författare)
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CO Chemisorption on Vicinal Rh(111) Surfaces Studied with a Curved Crystal
- 2020
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Ingår i: The Journal of Physical Chemistry C. - : American Chemical Society (ACS). - 1932-7447 .- 1932-7455. ; 124:17, s. 9305-9313
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Curved crystal surfaces enable the systematic and accurate comparison of physical and chemical processes for a full set of vicinal crystal planes, which are probed in the very same environment. Here, we examine the early stages of the CO chemisorption on vicinal Rh(111) surfaces using a curved Rh crystal that exposes a smoothly variable density of {100} (A-type) and {111} (B-type) steps. We readily identify and quanti step and terrace species by resolving their respective core-level lines using X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy at different locations on the curved surface. Uptake experiments show similar sticking probabilities at all surface planes, subtle asymmetries between A- and B-type steps, and significantly lower saturation coverage at densely stepped surfaces as compared to the (111) plane. The analysis of the C is intensity variation across the curved sample allows us to discuss the adsorption geometry around the step edge.
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| 4. |
- Görlin, Mikaela, et al.
(författare)
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Key activity descriptors of nickel-iron oxygen evolution electrocatalysts in the presence of alkali metal cations
- 2020
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Ingår i: Nature Communications. - : Springer Nature. - 2041-1723. ; 11:1
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Efficient oxygen evolution reaction (OER) electrocatalysts are pivotal for sustainable fuel production, where the Ni-Fe oxyhydroxide (OOH) is among the most active catalysts for alkaline OER. Electrolyte alkali metal cations have been shown to modify the activity and reaction intermediates, however, the exact mechanism is at question due to unexplained deviations from the cation size trend. Our X-ray absorption spectroelectrochemical results show that bigger cations shift the Ni2+/(3+delta)+ redox peak and OER activity to lower potentials (however, with typical discrepancies), following the order CsOH>NaOH approximate to KOH>RbOH>LiOH. Here, we find that the OER activity follows the variations in electrolyte pH rather than a specific cation, which accounts for differences both in basicity of the alkali hydroxides and other contributing anomalies. Our density functional theory-derived reactivity descriptors confirm that cations impose negligible effect on the Lewis acidity of Ni, Fe, and O lattice sites, thus strengthening the conclusions of an indirect pH effect. It is commonly accepted that electrolyte alkali metal cations modify the catalytic activity for oxygen evolution reaction. Here the authors challenge this assumption, showing that the activity is actually affected by a change in the electrolyte pH rather than a specific alkali cation.
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| 5. |
- Merte, Lindsay R., et al.
(författare)
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Structure of two-dimensional Fe3O4
- 2020
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Ingår i: Journal of Chemical Physics. - : AIP Publishing. - 0021-9606 .- 1089-7690. ; 152:11
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- We have investigated the structure of an ultrathin iron oxide phase grown on Ag(100) using surface X-ray diffraction in combination with Hubbard-corrected density functional theory (DFT+U) calculations. The film exhibits a novel structure composed of one close-packed layer of octahedrally coordinated Fe2+ sandwiched between two close-packed layers of tetrahedrally coordinated Fe3+ and an overall stoichiometry of Fe3O4. As the structure is distinct from bulk iron oxide phases and the coupling with the silver substrate is weak, we propose that the phase should be classified as a metastable two-dimensional oxide. The chemical and physical properties are potentially interesting, thanks to the predicted charge ordering between atomic layers, and analogy with bulk ferrite spinels suggests the possibility of synthesis of a whole class of two-dimensional ternary oxides with varying electronic, optical, and chemical properties.
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