Formation and diffusion of water dimers on rutile TiO2(110).
From an interplay of time-lapsed high resolution scanning tunneling microscopy and density functional theory calculations we reveal the formation and diffusion of water dimers on hydrated rutile TiO2(110)-(1x1) surfaces, i.e., surfaces containing OH_{br} groups. At temperatures between approximately 150 and approximately 210 K water monomers diffusing along the Ti troughs were found to form stable water dimers that diffuse faster than the water monomers. An H bond mediated rollover mechanism operating for the water dimers explains the experimental findings.
Matthiesen
J
J
Interdisciplinary Nanoscience Center (iNANO) and Department of Physics and Astronomy, Aarhus University, DK 8000 Aarhus C, Denmark.
Hansen
J O
JO
Wendt
S
S
Lira
E
E
Schaub
R
R
Laegsgaard
E
E
Besenbacher
F
F
Hammer
B
B