Dimerization Induced Deprotonation of Water on RuO2(110)
RuO2 has proven to be indispensable as a co-catalyst in numerous systems designed for photocatalytic water splitting. In this study we have carried out a detailed mechanistic study of water behavior on the most stable RuO2 face, RuO2(110), by employing variable temperature scanning tunneling microscopy and density functional theory calculations. We show that water monomers adsorb molecularly on Ru sites, become mobile above 238 K, diffuse along the Ru rows and form water dimers. The onset for dimer diffusion is observed at ~277 K indicating significantly higher diffusion barrier than that for monomers. More importantly, we find that water dimers deprotonate readily to form Ru-bound H3O2 and bridging OH species. The observed behavior is compared and contrasted with that observed for water on isostructural rutile TiO2(110).
- Research Organization:
- Pacific Northwest National Lab. (PNNL), Richland, WA (United States). Environmental Molecular Sciences Lab. (EMSL)
- Sponsoring Organization:
- USDOE
- DOE Contract Number:
- AC05-76RL01830
- OSTI ID:
- 1164966
- Report Number(s):
- PNNL-SA-103828; 48287; KC0302010
- Journal Information:
- The Journal of Physical Chemistry Letters, 5(19):3445-3450, Journal Name: The Journal of Physical Chemistry Letters, 5(19):3445-3450
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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