Solid spectroscopy

The interface between a solid and its vapor (or an inert gas) is discussed in this chapter from an essentially phenomenological point of view. We are interested in surface energies and free energies and in how they may be measured or estimated theoretically. The study of solid surfaces at the molecular level, through the methods of spectroscopy and diffraction, is taken up in Chapter VIII. 

The polymer concentration profile has been measured by small-angle neutron scattering from polymers adsorbed onto colloidal particles [70,71] or porous media [72] and from flat surfaces with neutron reflectivity [73] and optical reflectometry [74]. The fraction of segments bound to the solid surface is nicely revealed in NMR studies [75], infrared spectroscopy [76], and electron spin resonance [77]. An example of the concentration profile obtained by inverting neutron scattering measurements appears in Fig. XI-7, showing a typical surface volume fraction of 0.25 and layer thickness of 10-15 nm. The profile decays rapidly and monotonically but does not exhibit power-law scaling [70]. 

Still another type of adsorption system is that in which either a proton transfer occurs between the adsorbent site and the adsorbate or a Lewis acid-base type of reaction occurs. An important group of solids having acid sites is that of the various silica-aluminas, widely used as cracking catalysts. The sites center on surface aluminum ions but could be either proton donor (Brpnsted acid) or Lewis acid in type. The type of site can be distinguished by infrared spectroscopy, since an adsorbed base, such as ammonia or pyridine, should be either in the ammonium or pyridinium ion form or in coordinated form. The type of data obtainable is illustrated in Fig. XVIII-20, which shows a portion of the infrared spectrum of pyridine adsorbed on a Mo(IV)-Al203 catalyst. In the presence of some surface water both Lewis and Brpnsted types of adsorbed pyridine are seen, as marked in the figure. Thus the features at 1450 and 1620 cm are attributed to pyridine bound to Lewis acid sites, while those at 1540... 

Electrons are extremely usefiil as surface probes because the distances that they travel within a solid before scattering are rather short. This implies that any electrons that are created deep within a sample do not escape into vacuum. Any technique that relies on measurements of low-energy electrons emitted from a solid therefore provides infonuation from just the outenuost few atomic layers. Because of this inlierent surface sensitivity, the various electron spectroscopies are probably the most usefid and popular teclmiques in surface science. 

Electrons interact with solid surfaces by elastic and inelastic scattering, and these interactions are employed in electron spectroscopy. For example, electrons that elastically scatter will diffract from a single-crystal lattice. The diffraction pattern can be used as a means of stnictural detenuination, as in FEED. Electrons scatter inelastically by inducing electronic and vibrational excitations in the surface region. These losses fonu the basis of electron energy loss spectroscopy (EELS). An incident electron can also knock out an iimer-shell, or core, electron from an atom in the solid that will, in turn, initiate an Auger process. Electrons can also be used to induce stimulated desorption, as described in section Al.7.5.6. 

Photoelectron spectroscopy provides a direct measure of the filled density of states of a solid. The kinetic energy distribution of the electrons that are emitted via the photoelectric effect when a sample is exposed to a monocluomatic ultraviolet (UV) or x-ray beam yields a photoelectron spectrum. Photoelectron spectroscopy not only provides the atomic composition, but also infonnation conceming the chemical enviromnent of the atoms in the near-surface region. Thus, it is probably the most popular and usefiil surface analysis teclmique. There are a number of fonus of photoelectron spectroscopy in conuuon use. 

Seah M P and Dench W A 1979 Quantitative electron spectroscopy of surfaces a standard data base for electron inelastic mean free paths in solids Surf, interface Anai. 1 2... 

Shen Y R 1998 Sum frequency generation for vibrational spectroscopy applications to water interfaces and films of water and ice Solid State Commun. 108 399... 

Spectroscopy, or the study of the interaction of light with matter, has become one of the major tools of the natural and physical sciences during this century. As the wavelength of the radiation is varied across the electromagnetic spectrum, characteristic properties of atoms, molecules, liquids and solids are probed. In the... 

Nuss M C and Orenstein J 1998 Terahertz time domain spectroscopy Millimeter Submillimeter Wave Spectrosc. Solids 74 7-50... 

Because of the generality of the symmetry principle that underlies the nonlinear optical spectroscopy of surfaces and interfaces, the approach has found application to a remarkably wide range of material systems. These include not only the conventional case of solid surfaces in ultrahigh vacuum, but also gas/solid, liquid/solid, gas/liquid and liquid/liquid interfaces. The infonnation attainable from the measurements ranges from adsorbate coverage and orientation to interface vibrational and electronic spectroscopy to surface dynamics on the femtosecond time scale. 

The SHG/SFG technique is not restricted to interface spectroscopy of the delocalized electronic states of solids. It is also a powerful tool for spectroscopy of electronic transitions in molecules. Figure Bl.5.13 presents such an example for a monolayer of the R-enantiomer of the molecule 2,2 -dihydroxyl-l,l -binaphthyl, (R)-BN, at the air/water interface [ ]. The spectra reveal two-photon resonance features near wavelengths of 332 and 340 mu that are assigned to the two lowest exciton-split transitions in the naphtli-2-ol... 

Bain C D 1995 Sum-frequency vibrational spectroscopy of the solid-liquid interface J. Chem. See. Faraday Trans. 91 1281-96... 

Grupp A and Mehring M 1990 Pulsed ENDOR spectroscopy in solids Modern Pulsed and Continuous-Wave Electron Spin Resonance ed L Kevan and M K Bowman (New York Wiley) ch 4, pp 195-229... 

The power of optical spectroscopies is that they are often much better developed than their electron-, ion- and atom-based counterparts, and therefore provide results that are easier to interpret. Furtlienuore, photon-based teclmiques are uniquely poised to help in the characterization of liquid-liquid, liquid-solid and even solid-solid interfaces generally inaccessible by other means. There has certainly been a renewed interest in the use of optical spectroscopies for the study of more realistic systems such as catalysts, adsorbates, emulsions, surfactants, self-assembled layers, etc. 

There have been a few other experimental set-ups developed for the IR characterization of surfaces. Photoacoustic (PAS), or, more generally, photothemial IR spectroscopy relies on temperature fluctuations caused by irradiating the sample with a modulated monocliromatic beam the acoustic pressure wave created in the gas layer adjacent to the solid by the adsorption of light is measured as a fiinction of photon wavelength... 

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