Low-Pressure Deuterium Storage on Palladium-Coated Titanium Nanofilms: A Versatile Model System for Tritium-Based Betavoltaic Battery Applications.

Deuterium (D(g)) storage of Pd-coated Ti ultra-thin films at relatively low pressures is fine-tuned by systematically controlling the thicknesses of the catalytic Pd overlayer, underlying Ti ultra-thin film domain, D(g) pressure (), duration of D(g) exposure, and the thin film temperature. Structural properties of the Ti/Pd nanofilms are investigated via XRD, XPS, AFM, SEM, and TPD to explore new structure-functionality relationships. Ti/Pd thin film systems are deuterated to obtain a D/Ti ratio of up to 1.

Unraveling Molecular Fingerprints of Catalytic Sulfur Poisoning at the Nanometer Scale with Near-Field Infrared Spectroscopy.

Fundamental understanding of catalytic deactivation phenomena such as sulfur poisoning occurring on metal/metal-oxide interfaces is essential for the development of high-performance heterogeneous catalysts with extended lifetimes. Unambiguous identification of catalytic poisoning species requires experimental methods simultaneously delivering accurate information regarding adsorption sites and adsorption geometries of adsorbates with nanometer-scale spatial resolution, as well as their detailed chemical structure and surface functional groups. However, to date, it has not been possible to study catalytic sulfur poisoning of metal/metal-oxide interfaces at the nanometer scale without sacrificing chemical definition.