Adsorption of oxygen on silver single crystal surfaces

The adsorption of oxygen on Ag(110), (111), and (100) surfaces has been investigated by LEED, Auger electron spectroscopy (AES), and by the measurement of work function changes and of kinetics, at and above room temperature and at oxygen pressures up to 10^-5Torr. Extreme conditions of cleanliness were necessary to exclude the disturbing influences, which seem to have plagued earlier measurements. Extensive results were obtained on the (110) face. Adsorption proceeds with an initial sticking coefficient of about 3 × 10^-3 at 300 K, which drops very rapidly with coverage. Dissociative adsorption via a precursor is inferred. The work function change is strictly proportional to coverage and can therefore be used to follow adsorption and desorption kinetics; at saturation, ΔΦ ≈ 0.85 eV. Adsorption proceeds by the growth of chains of oxygen atoms perpendicular to the grooves of the surface. The chains keep maximum separation by repulsive lateral interactions, leading to a consecutive series of (n × 1) superstructures in LEED, with n running from 7 to 2. The initial heat of adsorption is found to be 40 kcal/mol. Complicated desorption kinetics are found in temperature-programmed and isothermal desorption measurements. The results are discussed in terms of structural and kinetic models. Very small and irreproducible effects were observed on the (111) face which is interpreted in terms of a general inertness of the close-packed face and of some adsorption at irregularities. On the (100) face, oxygen adsorbs in a disordered structure; from ΔΦ measurements two adsorption states are inferred, between which a temperature-dependent equilibrium seems to exist.