title: Real-Time Observation of Reconstruction Dynamics on TiO2(001) Surface under Oxygen via an Environmental Transmission Electron Microscope.
abstract: The surface atomic structure has a remarkable impact on the physical and chemical properties of metal oxides and has been studied extensively by scanning tunneling microscopy. However, acquiring real-time information on the formation and evolution of the surface structure remains a great challenge. Here we use environmental transmission electron microscopy to directly observe the stress-induced reconstruction dynamics on the (001) surface of anatase TiO2. Our in situ results unravel for the first time how the (1 × 4) reconstruction forms and how the metastable (1 × 3) and (1 × 5) patterns transform into the (1 × 4) surface stable structure. With the support of first-principles calculations, we find that the surface evolution is driven by both low coordinated atoms and surface stress. This work provides a complete picture of the structural evolution of TiO2(001) under oxygen atmosphere and paves the way for future studies of the reconstruction dynamics of other solid surfaces.
authors.affiliation: Center of Electron Microscopy and State Key Laboratory of Silicon Materials, School of Materials Science and Engineering, Zhejiang University , Hangzhou 310027, China.
authors.forename: Wentao
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Yuan
authors.affiliation: Center of Electron Microscopy and State Key Laboratory of Silicon Materials, School of Materials Science and Engineering, Zhejiang University , Hangzhou 310027, China.
authors.forename: Yong
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.affiliation: Center of Electron Microscopy and State Key Laboratory of Silicon Materials, School of Materials Science and Engineering, Zhejiang University , Hangzhou 310027, China.
authors.forename: Hengbo
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Li
authors.affiliation: Center of Electron Microscopy and State Key Laboratory of Silicon Materials, School of Materials Science and Engineering, Zhejiang University , Hangzhou 310027, China.
authors.forename: Hanglong
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Wu
authors.affiliation: Center of Electron Microscopy and State Key Laboratory of Silicon Materials, School of Materials Science and Engineering, Zhejiang University , Hangzhou 310027, China.
authors.forename: Ze
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.affiliation: Department of Chemistry, Princeton University , Princeton, New Jersey 08544, United States.
authors.forename: Annabella
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Selloni
authors.affiliation: ARC Centre for Electromaterials Science, School of Chemistry, Monash University , Clayton, Victoria 3800, Australia.
authors.forename: Chenghua
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Sun
mesh_terms: D001272:Atmosphere / Q000737:chemistry*; D046529:Microscopy, Electron, Transmission; D016252:Microscopy, Scanning Tunneling; D010100:Oxygen / Q000737:chemistry*; D013499:Surface Properties; D014025:Titanium / Q000737:chemistry*
chemical_list: C009495:titanium dioxide; D014025:Titanium; D010100:Oxygen
keywords: Oxide surface; environmental transmission electron microscopy (ETEM); in situ TEM; surface dynamics; surface evolution; surface reconstruction