Carbon-nitrogen place exchange on NO exposed beta-Mo2C.

Atomic nitrogen and oxygen were deposited on beta-Mo(2)C through dissociative adsorption of NO. Reflectance absorbance infrared spectroscopy (RAIRS), thermal desorption, and synchrotron X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) measurements were used to investigate the interplay between atomic nitrogen, carbon, and oxygen in the 400-1250 K region. The combination of the high resolution and high surface sensitivity offered by the synchrotron XPS technique was used to show that atomic nitrogen displaces interstitial carbon onto the carbide surface.