Influence of Local Defects on the Dynamics of O-H Bond Breaking and Formation on a Magnetite Surface

The transport of H adatoms across oxide supports plays an important role in many catalytic reactions. We investigate the dynamics of H/Fe₃O₄(001) between 295 and 382 K. By scanning tunneling microscopy at frame rates of up to 19.6 fps, we observe the thermally activated switching of H between two O atoms on neighboring Fe rows. This switching rate changes in proximity to a defect, explained by density functional theory as a distortion in the Fe-O lattice shortening the diffusion path. Quantitative analysis yields an apparent activation barrier of 0.94 ± 0.07 eV on a pristine surface. The present work highlights the importance of local techniques in the study of atomic-scale dynamics at defective surfaces such as oxide supports.