Ultraviolet light-induced electron-hole pair excitations in anatase TiO(2) powders were studied by a combination of electron paramagnetic resonance and infrared spectroscopy measurements. During continuous UV irradiation in the mW.cm(-2) range, photogenerated electrons are either trapped at localized sites, giving paramagnetic Ti(3+) centers, or remain in the conduction band as EPR silent species which may be observed by their IR absorption. Using low temperatures (90 K) to reduce the rate of the electron-hole recombination processes, trapped electrons and conduction band electrons exhibit lifetimes of hours. The EPR-detected holes produced by photoexcitation are O(-) species, produced from lattice O(2-) ions. It is found that under high vacuum conditions, the major fraction of photoexcited electrons remains in the conduction band. At 298 K, all stable hole and electron states are lost from TiO(2). Defect sites produced by oxygen removal during annealing of anatase TiO(2) are found to produce a Ti(3+) EPR spectrum identical to that of trapped electrons, which originate from photoexcitation of oxidized TiO(2). Efficient electron scavenging by adsorbed O(2) at 140 K is found to produce two long-lived O(2)(-) surface species associated with different cation surface sites. Reduced TiO(2), produced by annealing in vacuum, has been shown to be less efficient in hole trapping than oxidized TiO(2).

The arrangement of single gold and palladium atoms deposited on the surface of a 3 monolayer thin film of MgO was investigated using low-temperature scanning tunneling microscopy. While Pd atoms are arranged in a random fashion, Au forms an ordered array on the surface. The long-range ordering as well as the scanning tunneling microscopy appearance of single Au atoms on a 3 monolayer thin MgO film can be explained by partial charge transfer from the substrate to Au atoms as predicted recently by density functional theory calculations [Phys. Rev. Lett. 94, 226104 (2005)10.1103/PhysRevLett.94.226104]. In contrast with that, Au atoms on a thick film were found to be essentially neutral.

Abstract. CO oxidation on a clean Pt(111) single crystal and thin iron oxide films grown on Pt(111) was studied at different CO:O 2 ratios (between 1:5 and 5:1) and partial pressures up to 60 mbar at 400 -450 K. Structural characterization of the model catalysts was performed by scanning tunneling microscopy, low energy electron diffraction, Auger electron spectroscopy and temperature programmed desorption. It is found that monolayer FeO (111) films grown on Pt(111) are much more active than clean Pt(111) and nm-thick Fe 3 O 4 (111) films at all reaction conditions studied. Post-characterization of the catalysts revealed that at CO:O 2 >1 the FeO(111) film dewets the Pt surface with time, ultimately resulting in highly dispersed iron oxide particles on Pt(111). The film dewetting was monitored in situ by polarisation-modulated infrared reflection absorption spectroscopy. The reaction rate at 450 K exhibited first order for O 2 and non-monotonously depended on CO pressure. In O 2 -rich ambient the films were enriched with oxygen while maintaining the long range ordering.Based on the structure-reactivity relationships observed for the FeO/Pt films, we propose that the reaction proceeds through the formation of a well-ordered, oxygen-rich FeO x (1 < x < 2) film that reacts with CO through the redox mechanism. The reaction induced dewetting in fact deactivates the catalyst. The results may aid in our deeper understanding of reactivity of metal particles encapsulated by thin oxide films as a result of strong metal support interaction.

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The atomic structure of thin silica films grown over a Ru(0001) substrate was studied by X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy, infrared reflection absorption spectroscopy, low energy electron diffraction, helium ion scattering spectroscopy, CO temperature programmed desorption, and scanning tunneling microscopy in combination with density functional theory calculations. The films were prepared by Si vapor deposition and subsequent oxidation at high temperatures. The silica film first grows as a monolayer of corner-sharing [SiO(4)] tetrahedra strongly bonded to the Ru(0001) surface through the Si-O-Ru linkages. At increasing amounts of Si, the film forms a bilayer of corner-sharing [SiO(4)] tetrahedra which is weakly bonded to Ru(0001). The bilayer film can be grown in either the crystalline or vitreous state, or both coexisting. Further increasing the film thickness leads to the formation of vitreous silica exhibiting a three-dimensional network of [SiO(4)]. The principal structure of the films can be monitored by infrared spectroscopy, as each structure shows a characteristic vibrational band, i.e., ∼1135 cm(-1) for a monolayer film, ∼1300 cm(-1) for the bilayer structures, and ∼1250 cm(-1) for the bulk-like vitreous silica.