Single-crystal adsorbent

The single-crystal adsorbent [Rh(II)2(bza)4(pyz)]n exhibits smooth and reversible gas adsorbing ability as commonly observed in microporous media, and water vapor cannot advance in the crystal due to the hydrophobic nature of the pores (Fig. 

Figure 3.4.16 Observation Method of observation of co-crystallization of gases using a single-crystal adsorbent.

Most fiindamental surface science investigations employ single-crystal samples cut along a low-index plane. The single-crystal surface is prepared to be nearly atomically flat. The surface may also be modified in vacuum. For example, it may be exposed to a gas that adsorbs (sticks) to the surface, or a film can be grown onto a sample by evaporation of material. In addition to single-crystal surfaces, many researchers have investigated vicinal, i.e. stepped, surfaces as well as the surfaces of polycrystalline and disordered materials. 

When atoms, molecules, or molecular fragments adsorb onto a single-crystal surface, they often arrange themselves into an ordered pattern. Generally, the size of the adsorbate-induced two-dimensional surface unit cell is larger than that of the clean surface. The same nomenclature is used to describe the surface unit cell of an adsorbate system as is used to describe a reconstructed surface, i.e. the synmietry is given with respect to the bulk tenninated (unreconstructed) two-dimensional surface unit cell. 

How are fiindamental aspects of surface reactions studied The surface science approach uses a simplified system to model the more complicated real-world systems. At the heart of this simplified system is the use of well defined surfaces, typically in the fonn of oriented single crystals. A thorough description of these surfaces should include composition, electronic structure and geometric structure measurements, as well as an evaluation of reactivity towards different adsorbates. Furthemiore, the system should be constructed such that it can be made increasingly more complex to more closely mimic macroscopic systems. However, relating surface science results to the corresponding real-world problems often proves to be a stumbling block because of the sheer complexity of these real-world systems. 

A large number of ordered surface structures can be produced experimentally on single-crystal surfaces, especially with adsorbates [H]. There are also many disordered surfaces. Ordering is driven by the interactions between atoms, ions or molecules in the surface region. These forces can be of various types covalent, ionic, van der Waals, etc and there can be a mix of such types of interaction, not only within a given bond, but also from bond to bond in the same surface. A surface could, for instance, consist of a bulk material with one type of internal bonding (say, ionic). It may be covered with an overlayer of molecules with a different type of intramolecular bonding (typically covalent) and the molecules may be held to the substrate by yet another fomi of bond (e.g., van der Waals). 

Figure Bl.22.1. Reflection-absorption IR spectra (RAIRS) from palladium flat surfaces in the presence of a 1 X 10 Torr 1 1 NO CO mixture at 200 K. Data are shown here for tluee different surfaces, namely, for Pd (100) (bottom) and Pd(l 11) (middle) single crystals and for palladium particles (about 500 A m diameter) deposited on a 100 A diick Si02 film grown on top of a Mo(l 10) single crystal. These experiments illustrate how RAIRS titration experiments can be used for the identification of specific surface sites in supported catalysts. On Pd(lOO) CO and NO each adsorbs on twofold sites, as indicated by their stretching bands at about 1970 and 1670 cm, respectively. On Pd(l 11), on the other hand, the main IR peaks are seen around 1745 for NO (on-top adsorption) and about 1915 for CO (tlueefold coordination). Using those two spectra as references, the data from the supported Pd system can be analysed to obtain estimates of the relative fractions of (100) and (111) planes exposed in the metal particles [26].

The catalysts with the simplest compositions are pure metals, and the metals that have the simplest and most uniform surface stmctures are single crystals. Researchers have done many experiments with metal single crystals in ultrahigh vacuum chambers so that unimpeded beams of particles and radiation can be used to probe them. These surface science experiments have led to fundamental understanding of the stmctures of simple adsorbed species, such as CO, H, and small hydrocarbons, and the mechanisms of their reactions (42) they indicate that catalytic activity is often sensitive to small changes in surface stmcture. For example, paraffin hydrogenolysis reactions take place rapidly on steps and kinks of platinum surfaces but only very slowly on flat planes however, hydrogenation of olefins takes place at approximately the same rate on each kind of surface site. 

Adsorbed molecules are more strongly held at the sites where the weakest metal-metal bonding is to be found, and these conespond to the active sites of Langmuir. A demonstration of this effect was found in smdies of the adsorption of H2S from a H2S/H2 mixture on a single crystal of copper of which die separate crystal faces had been polished and exposed to die gas. The formation of copper sulphide first occuiTed on die [100] and [110] planes at a lower H2S partial pressure dran on die more densely packed [111] face. Thus die metal atoms which are less strongly bonded to odrer metal atoms can bond more strongly to die adsorbed species from die gas phase. 

Adsorbed species (and even underlayer atoms) on single-crystal surfaces... 

Of these, the most extensive use is to identify adsorbed molecules and molecular intermediates on metal single-crystal surfaces. On these well-defined surfaces, a wealth of information can be gained about adlayers, including the nature of the surface chemical bond, molecular structural determination and geometrical orientation, evidence for surface-site specificity, and lateral (adsorbate-adsorbate) interactions. Adsorption and reaction processes in model studies relevant to heterogeneous catalysis, materials science, electrochemistry, and microelectronics device failure and fabrication have been studied by this technique. 

Figure 1 Schematic of eiectron energy-loss scattering process for electrons of energy striking a Rh single-crystal surface with adsorbed CO molecules present. The actual energy-loss spectrum, due to excitation of CO vibrations, is shown also.

In the following discussion, heavy emphasis is made of examples from studies of adsorbed layers on metal single-crystal samples. These illustrate the power of the HREELS technique and represent the main use of HREELS historically. Certainly HREELS has been used outside of the single-crystal world, and mention is made concerning its use on practical materials. This latter use of HREELS represents a true frontier. 

Let us consider a surface on which particles are adsorbed on sites with different activation energy of desorption, and the distribution of these energies over the surface is discrete so that ni0 particles are initially in a state with an activation energy of desorption Edt, n particles with an energy Ed/, etc. Such a model corresponds to a concept of adsorption on different crystal planes each of which is homogeneous, or to a concept of different adsorption states of the particles adsorbed on a single crystal (26, 88). 

While from a structural point of view metal/solution and metal/vac-uum interfaces are qualitatively comparable even if quantitatively dissimilar, in the presence of ionic adsorbates the comparability is more difficult and is possible only if specific conditions are met.33 This is sketched in Fig. 7. A UHV metal surface with ions adsorbed on it is electrically neutral because of a counter-charge on the metal phase. These conditions cannot be compared with the condition of a = 0 in an electrochemical cell, but with the conditions in which the adsorbed charge is balanced by an equal and opposite charge on the metal surface, i.e., the condition of zero diffuse-layer charge. This is a further complication in comparing electrochemical and UHV conditions and has been pointed out in the case of Br adsorption on Ag single-crystal faces.88... 

The adsorption of aliphatic alcohols, which adsorb on metals with the hydrocarbon tail facing the electrode surface, shows different patterns on real Ag crystal faces440,441 with respect to quasi-perfect single-crystal face electrodes.442-444 This specific point will be discussed in detail in Section III. 

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