Adsorption of ethylene (C2H4) on stepped
Cu(410) surface was investigated with infrared reflection–absorption
spectroscopy, temperature-programmed desorption, and density functional
theory calculations. At 93 K, ethylene adsorbs molecularly on Cu(410)
and forms three different π-bonded species, all of which desorb
below 230 K. Even though this finding straightforwardly suggests that
the three species correspond to ethylene adsorbed at the step-edge
and at the two different terrace atoms, a more detailed analysis reveals
this is not the case. Instead, the origin of the three species stems
from the interplay between (i) strong preference of ethylene to adsorb
at the step-edge, (ii) significant intermolecular repulsion between
the ethylene adsorbed at the adjacent step-edge sites, and (iii) the
random adsorption on the terrace sites. Recent experimental studies
have suggested that ethylene is dehydrogenated on Cu(410) due to the
open step-edges (Kravchuk et al. J. Phys. Chem. C
2009, 113, 20881). The present data
confirm the occurrence of dehydrogenation but not the formation of
a di-σ-bonded ethylene.