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Title: Oxygen adsorption on spontaneously reconstructed Au(511)

Journal Article · · Surface Science

The four-fold site on {100} facets, which are potential catalytic sites on high-curvature gold nanoparticles, is difficult to prepare on a gold single crystal due to surface reconstruction. In this work, the Au(511) surface with a high density of step edges and a well-maintained {100} local structure was studied by scanning tunneling microscopy (STM), temperature programmed reaction spectroscopy (TPRS), and density functional theory (DFT) calculations. Annealing at 550 K and 870 K induces reconstruction on the Au(511) surface to a mixture of (311) and (711) micro-terraces. At room temperature and low oxygen coverage, oxygen adsorbs at both three- and four-fold sites on the surface, leading to a well-ordered zig-zag structure. Oxygen atoms cause significant orbital hybridization and a slight displacement of the gold atoms to which they bind. High oxygen coverages induce the formation of clusters, which are not active towards oxidation of isopropanol at room temperature and a pressure of 10-10 mbar. Oxygen adsorption saturates at 1 monolayer (ML), and two separate oxygen recombinative desorption peaks were observed at coverages above 0.11 ML. Our characterization of this surface and the O adsorption structure offers future studies of {100} micro-terraces for oxidation reactions, which contributes to studies on gold-based catalysts with an irregular shape.

Research Organization:
Harvard Univ., Cambridge, MA (United States)
Sponsoring Organization:
USDOE Office of Science (SC), Basic Energy Sciences (BES)
Grant/Contract Number:
SC0012573
OSTI ID:
1597444
Alternate ID(s):
OSTI ID: 1636030
Journal Information:
Surface Science, Vol. 679, Issue C; ISSN 0039-6028
Publisher:
ElsevierCopyright Statement
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English
Citation Metrics:
Cited by: 5 works
Citation information provided by
Web of Science