Spectroscopic link between adsorption site occupation and local surface chemical reactivity.
In this Letter we show that sequences of adsorbate-induced shifts of surface core level (SCL) x-ray photoelectron spectra contain profound information on surface changes of electronic structure and reactivity. Energy shifts and intensity changes of time-lapsed spectral components follow simple rules, from which adsorption sites are directly determined. Theoretical calculations rationalize the results for transition metal surfaces in terms of the energy shift of the d-band center of mass and this proves that adsorbate-induced SCL shifts provide a spectroscopic measure of local surface reactivity.
Dipartimento di Fisica, Universitá di Trieste, Via Valerio 2, 34127 Trieste, Italy.
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Baraldi
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Lizzit
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Comelli
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Kiskinova
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Rosei
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Honkala
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Nørskov