Water adsorption on O (2×2 )/Ru (0001): STM experiments and first-principles calculations

We present a combined theoretical and experimental study of water adsorption on Ru(0001) precovered with 0.25 ML (monolayer) of oxygen forming a (2×2) structure. Several structures were analyzed by means of density functional theory calculations for which scanning tunneling microscope (STM) simulati...

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Detalles Bibliográficos
Autores: Cabrera-Sanfélix, Pepa, Sánchez-Portal, Daniel, Mugarza, Aitor, Shimizu, Tomoko K., Salmerón, Miquel, Arnau, Andrés
Tipo de recurso: artículo
Estado:Versión publicada
Fecha de publicación:2007
País:España
Institución:Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas (CSIC)
Repositorio:DIGITAL.CSIC. Repositorio Institucional del CSIC
OAI Identifier:oai:digital.csic.es:10261/226277
Acceso en línea:http://hdl.handle.net/10261/226277
Access Level:acceso abierto
Descripción
Sumario:We present a combined theoretical and experimental study of water adsorption on Ru(0001) precovered with 0.25 ML (monolayer) of oxygen forming a (2×2) structure. Several structures were analyzed by means of density functional theory calculations for which scanning tunneling microscope (STM) simulations were performed and compared with experimental data. Up to 0.25 ML, the molecules bind to the exposed Ru atoms of the 2×2unit cell via the lone pair orbitals. The molecular plane is almost parallel to the surface with its H atoms pointing toward the chemisorbed O atoms of the 2×2 unit cell forming hydrogen bonds. The existence of these additional hydrogen bonds increases the adsorption energy of the water molecule to approximately 616meV, which is ∼220meV more stable than on the clean Ru(0001) surface with a similar configuration. The binding energy shows only a weak dependence on water coverage, with a shallow minimum for a row structure at 0.125 ML. This is consistent with the STM experiments that show a tendency of the molecules to form linear rows at intermediate coverage. Our calculations also suggest the possible formation of water dimers near 0.25 ML.