Atomic-Scale View of Water Chemistry on Nanostructured Iron Oxide Films.

The interaction of water with solid surfaces is crucial for a wide range of disciplines, including catalysis, environmental science, corrosion, geology, and biology. In this study, we present a combined experimental and theoretical investigation that elucidates the interaction of water with a model iron oxide surface under near ambient conditions (i.e.

Electronic and Structural Properties of Thin Iron Oxide Films on CeO.

Modification of CeO (ceria) with 3d transition metals, particularly iron, has been proven to significantly enhance its catalytic efficiency in oxidation or combustion reactions. Although this phenomenon is widely reported, the nature of the iron-ceria interaction responsible for this improvement remains debated. To address this issue, we prepared well-defined model FeO/CeO(111) catalytic systems and studied their structure and interfacial electronic properties using photoelectron spectroscopy, scanning tunneling microscopy, and low-energy electron diffraction, coupled with density functional theory (DFT) calculations.

Role of the redox state of cerium oxide on glycine adsorption: an experimental and theoretical study.

The role of the oxidation state of cerium cations in a thin oxide film in the adsorption, geometry, and thermal stability of glycine molecules was studied. The experimental study was performed for a submonolayer molecular coverage deposited in vacuum on CeO(111)/Cu(111) and CeO(111)/Cu(111) films by photoelectron and soft X-ray absorption spectroscopies and supported by calculations for prediction of the adsorbate geometries, C 1s and N 1s core binding energies of glycine, and some possible products of the thermal decomposition. The molecules adsorbed on the oxide surfaces at 25 °C in the anionic form the carboxylate oxygen atoms bound to cerium cations.

In Situ Spectroscopy and Microscopy Insights into the CO Oxidation Mechanism on Au/CeO(111).

In this work, we prepared and investigated in ultra-high vacuum (UHV) two stoichiometric CeO(111) surfaces containing low and high amounts of step edges decorated with 0.05 ML of gold using synchrotron-radiation photoelectron spectroscopy (SRPES) and scanning tunneling microscopy (STM). The UHV study helped to solve the still unresolved puzzle on how the one-monolayer-high ceria step edges affect the metal-substrate interaction between Au and the CeO(111) surface.