Growth of Copper on Single Crystalline ZnO: Surface Study of a Model Catalyst

Optical Transmittance Enhancement of Flexible Copper Film Electrodes with a Wetting Layer for Organic Solar Cells

The development of highly efficient flexible transparent electrodes (FTEs) supported on polymer substrates is of great importance to the realization of portable and bendable photovoltaic devices. Highly conductive, low-cost Cu has attracted attention as a promising alternative for replacing expensive indium tin oxide (ITO) and Ag. However, highly efficient, Cu-based FTEs are currently unavailable because of the absence of an efficient means of attaining an atomically thin, completely continuous Cu film that simultaneously exhibits enhanced optical transmittance and electrical conductivity. Here, strong two-dimensional (2D) epitaxy of Cu on ZnO is reported by applying an atomically thin (around 1 nm) oxygen-doped Cu wetting layer. Analyses of transmission electron microscopy images and X-ray diffraction patterns, combined with first-principles density functional theory calculations, reveal that the reduction in the surface and interface free energies of the wetting layers with a trace amount (1-2 atom %) of oxygen are largely responsible for the two-dimensional epitaxial growth of the Cu on ZnO. The ultrathin 2D Cu layer, embedded between ZnO films, exhibits a highly desirable optical transmittance of over 85% in a wavelength range of 400-800 nm and a sheet resistance of 11 Ω sq^-1. The validity of this innovative approach is verified with a Cu-based FTE that contributes to the light-to-electron conversion efficiency of a flexible organic solar cell that incorporates the transparent electrode (7.7%), which far surpasses that of a solar cell with conventional ITO (6.4%).

New Insights into the Role of Al2 O3 in the Promotion of CuZnAl Catalysts: A Model Study

The Cu/Al₂ O₃ /ZnO(0001)-Zn ternary model catalysts and their binary analogues were prepared and characterized. It was found that Al₂ O₃ grew on the ZnO(0001)-Zn surface by a layer-by-layer model, whereas Cu grew on the ZnO(0001)-Zn surface as two-dimensional clusters up to 0.2 monolayers (ML), and thereafter formed three-dimensional clusters. Because of the layer-by-layer growth of Al₂ O₃ on the ZnO(0001)-Zn, Cu/Al₂ O₃ can be considered without the effect of ZnO. Ternary model catalyst Cu/Al₂ O₃ /ZnO(0001)-Zn, which has all three parts on the surface, was prepared by deposition of Cu on the surface of Al₂ O₃ /ZnO(0001)-Zn. Low-energy ion scattering spectra showed that Cu preferred to locate at the Al₂ O₃ /ZnO interfaces. Compared with Cu/ZnO, the addition of Al₂ O₃ obviously suppressed the reduction of copper oxides and led to a higher concentration of Cu⁺ . The Cu clusters were found to be covered by thin ZnO_x overlayers after reduction of Cu/Al₂ O₃ /ZnO(0001)-Zn by using H₂ . Therefore, the high activity of industrial Cu/ZnO/Al₂ O₃ catalysts may origin from Cu⁺ -rich clusters at the Al₂ O₃ /ZnO interface that are covered by thin ZnO_x overlayers.

Orientation-dependent chemistry and band-bending of Ti on polar ZnO surfaces

Orientation-dependent reactivity and band-bending are evidenced upon Ti deposition (1-10 Å) on polar ZnO(0001)-Zn and ZnO(0001[combining macron])-O surfaces. At the onset of the Ti deposition, a downward band-bending was observed on ZnO(0001[combining macron])-O while no change occurred on ZnO(0001)-Zn. Combining this with the photoemission analysis of the Ti 2p core level and Zn L₃(L₂)M₄₅M₄₅ Auger transition, it is established that the Ti/ZnO reaction is of the form Ti + 2ZnO → TiO₂ + 2Zn on ZnO(0001)-Zn and Ti + yZnO → TiZn_xO_y + (y - x)Zn on ZnO(0001[combining macron])-O. Consistently, upon annealing thicker Ti adlayers, the metallic zinc is removed to leave ZnO(0001)-Zn surfaces covered with a TiO₂-like phase and ZnO(0001[combining macron])-O surfaces covered with a defined (Ti, Zn, O) compound. Finally, a difference in the activation temperature between the O-terminated (500 K) and Zn-terminated (700 K) surfaces is observed, which is tentatively explained by different electric fields in the space charge layer at ZnO surfaces.

Enhanced wetting of Cu on ZnO by migration of subsurface oxygen vacancies

Metal adhesion on metal oxides is strongly controlled by the oxide surface structure and composition, but lack of control over the surface conditions often limits the possibilities to exploit this in opto- and micro-electronics applications and heterogeneous catalysis where nanostructural control is of utmost importance. The Cu/ZnO system is among the most investigated of such systems in model studies, but the presence of subsurface ZnO defects and their important role for adhesion on ZnO have been unappreciated so far. Here we reveal that the surface-directed migration of subsurface defects affects the Cu adhesion on polar ZnO(0001) in the technologically interesting temperature range up to 550 K. This leads to enhanced adhesion and ultimately complete wetting of ZnO(0001) by a Cu overlayer. On the basis of our experimental and computational results we demonstrate a mechanism which implies that defect concentrations in the bulk are an important, and possibly controllable, parameter for the metal-on-oxide growth.

Comprehensive elucidation of metal-support interactions is important for controlling and improving their performances in a range of pertinent technologies. Here, the authors reveal how subsurface defects influence the adhesion and wetting of a metal on the surface of a metal oxide.

Influence of hydroxyls on Pd atom mobility and clustering on rutile TiO(2)(011)-2 × 1

Understanding agglomeration of late transition metal atoms, such as Pd, on metal oxide supports, such as TiO2, is critical for designing heterogeneous catalysts as well as for controlling metal/oxide interfaces in general. One approach for reducing particle sintering is to modify the metal oxide surface with hydroxyls that decrease adatom mobility. We study by scanning tunneling microscopy experiments, density functional theory (DFT) calculations, and Monte Carlo (MC) computer simulations the atomistic processes of Pd sintering on a hydroxyl-modified TiO2(011)-2 × 1 surface. The formation of small 1-3 atom clusters that are stable at room temperature is achieved on the hydroxylated surface, while much larger clusters are formed under the same conditions on a hydroxyl-free surface. DFT shows that this is a consequence of stronger binding of Pd atoms adjacent to hydroxyls and increased surface diffusion barriers for Pd atoms on the hydroxylated surface. DFT, kinetic MC, and ReaxFF-based NVT-MC simulations show that Pd clusters larger than single Pd monomers can adsorb the hydrogen from the oxide surface and form Pd hydrides. This depletes the surface hydroxyl coverage, thus allowing Pd to more freely diffuse and agglomerate at room temperature. Experimentally, this causes a bimodal cluster size distribution with 1-3 atom clusters prevalent at low Pd coverage, while significantly larger clusters become dominant at higher Pd concentrations. This study demonstrates that hydroxylated oxide surfaces can significantly reduce Pd cluster sizes, thus enabling the preparation of surfaces populated with metal clusters composed of single to few atoms.

Representing potential energy surfaces by high-dimensional neural network potentials

The development of interatomic potentials employing artificial neural networks has seen tremendous progress in recent years. While until recently the applicability of neural network potentials (NNPs) has been restricted to low-dimensional systems, this limitation has now been overcome and high-dimensional NNPs can be used in large-scale molecular dynamics simulations of thousands of atoms. NNPs are constructed by adjusting a set of parameters using data from electronic structure calculations, and in many cases energies and forces can be obtained with very high accuracy. Therefore, NNP-based simulation results are often very close to those gained by a direct application of first-principles methods. In this review, the basic methodology of high-dimensional NNPs will be presented with a special focus on the scope and the remaining limitations of this approach. The development of NNPs requires substantial computational effort as typically thousands of reference calculations are required. Still, if the problem to be studied involves very large systems or long simulation times this overhead is regained quickly. Further, the method is still limited to systems containing about three or four chemical elements due to the rapidly increasing complexity of the configuration space, although many atoms of each species can be present. Due to the ability of NNPs to describe even extremely complex atomic configurations with excellent accuracy irrespective of the nature of the atomic interactions, they represent a general and therefore widely applicable technique, e.g. for addressing problems in materials science, for investigating properties of interfaces, and for studying solvation processes.

Atomic resolution non-contact atomic force microscopy of clean metal oxide surfaces

In the last two decades the atomic force microscope (AFM) has become the premier tool for topographical analysis of surface structures at the nanometre scale. In its ultimately sensitive implementation, namely dynamic scanning force microscopy (SFM) operated in the so-called non-contact mode (NC-AFM), this technique yields genuine atomic resolution and offers a unique tool for real space atomic-scale studies of surfaces, nanoparticles as well as thin films, single atoms and molecules on surfaces irrespective of the substrate being electrically conducting or non-conducting. Recent advances in NC-AFM have paved the way for groundbreaking atomic level insight into insulator surfaces, specifically in the most important field of metal oxides. NC-AFM imaging now strongly contributes to our understanding of the surface structure, chemical composition, defects, polarity and reactivity of metal oxide surfaces and related physical and chemical surface processes. Here we review the latest advancements in the field of NC-AFM applied to the fundamental atomic resolution studies of clean single crystal metal oxide surfaces with special focus on the representative materials Al(2)O(3)(0001), TiO(2)(110), ZnO(1000) and CeO(2)(111).

Surface studies of gas sensing metal oxides

The relation of surface science studies of single crystal metal oxides to gas sensing applications is reviewed. Most metal oxide gas sensors are used to detect oxidizing or reducing gases and therefore this article focuses on surface reduction processes and the interaction of oxygen with these surfaces. The systems that are discussed are: (i) the oxygen vacancy formation on the surface of the ion conductor CeO(2)(111); (ii) interaction of oxygen with TiO(2) (both adsorption processes and the incorporation of oxygen into the TiO(2)(110) lattice are discussed); (iii) the varying surface composition of SnO(2)(101) and its consequence for the adsorption of water; and (iv) Cu modified ZnO(0001)-Zn surfaces and its interaction with oxygen. These examples are chosen to give a comprehensive overview of surface science studies of different kinds of gas sensing materials and to illustrate the potential that surface science studies have to give fundamental insight into gas sensing phenomena.