Resonant photoemission spectroscopy study of electronic structure of V2O5

Elucidating the active phases of CoOx films on Au(111) in the CO oxidation reaction

Noble metals supported on reducible oxides, like CoOx and TiOx, exhibit superior activity in many chemical reactions, but the origin of the increased activity is not well understood. To answer this question we studied thin films of CoOx supported on an Au(111) single crystal surface as a model for the CO oxidation reaction. We show that three reaction regimes exist in response to chemical and topographic restructuring of the CoOx catalyst as a function of reactant gas phase CO/O2 stoichiometry and temperature. Under oxygen-lean conditions and moderate temperatures (≤150 °C), partially oxidized films (CoOx<1) containing Co0 were found to be efficient catalysts. In contrast, stoichiometric CoO films containing only Co2+ form carbonates in the presence of CO that poison the reaction below 300 °C. Under oxygen-rich conditions a more oxidized catalyst phase (CoOx>1) forms containing Co3+ species that are effective in a wide temperature range. Resonant photoemission spectroscopy (ResPES) revealed the unique role of Co3+ sites in catalyzing the CO oxidation. Density function theory (DFT) calculations provided deeper insights into the pathway and free energy barriers for the reactions on these oxide phases. These findings in this work highlight the versatility of catalysts and their evolution to form different active phases, both topological and chemically, in response to reaction conditions exposing a new paradigm in the catalyst structure during operation.

Interplay among work function, electronic structure and stoichiometry in nanostructured VOx films

The work function is the parameter of greatest interest in many technological applications involving charge exchange mechanisms at the surface. The possibility to produce samples with a controlled work function is then particularly interesting, albeit challenging. We synthetized nanostructured vanadium oxide films by a room temperature supersonic cluster beam deposition method, obtaining samples with tunable stoichiometry and work function (3.7-7 eV). We present an investigation of the electronic structure of several vanadium oxide films as a function of the oxygen content via in situ Auger, valence-band photoemission spectroscopy and work function measurements. The experiments probed the partial 3d density of states, highlighting the presence of strong V 3d-O 2p and V 3d-V 4s hybridizations which influence 3d occupation. We show how controlling the stoichiometry of the sample implies control over work function, and that the access to nanoscale quantum confinement can be exploited to increase the work function of the sample relative to the bulk analogue. In general, the knowledge of the interplay among work function, electronic structure, and stoichiometry is strategic to match nanostructured oxides to their target applications.

Relative stability of low-index V(2)O(5) surfaces: a density functional investigation

Ab initio density functional calculations of the structural and electronic properties of V(2)O(5) bulk and its low-index surfaces are presented. For the bulk oxide and the (010) surface (the natural cleavage plane) a good agreement with experiment and with earlier ab initio calculations is found. For the first time, the investigations are extended to other low-index surfaces: (001) and (100). On both surfaces, termination conserving a bulk-like stoichiometry is preferred, but-in contrast to the (010) surface-a strong structural relaxation takes place. Relaxation reduces the surface energy from 1.16 to 0.48 J m(-2) for the (001) and from 0.61 to 0.55 J m(-2) for the (100) surface. Although the relaxed surface energies are still one order of magnitude higher than calculated for the (010) surface (0.047 J m(-2)), the Wulff construction demonstrates that (001) and (100) surfaces contribute about 15% of the total surface area of a V(2)O(5) crystallite, indicating a non-negligible role in the catalytic activity of V(2)O(5).

Theoretical and experimental determination of the electronic structure of V2O5, reduced V2O5−xand sodium intercalated NaV2O5

In this work the electronic structure of V(2)O(5), reduced V(2)O(5-x) (V(16)O(39)) and sodium intercalated NaV(2)O(5) has been studied by both theoretical and experimental methods. Theoretical band structure calculations have been performed using density functional methods (DFT). We have investigated the electron density distribution of the valence states, the total density of states (total DOS) and the partial valence band density of states (PVBDOS). Experimentally, amorphous V(2)O(5) thin films have been prepared by physical vapour deposition (PVD) on freshly cleaved highly oriented pyrolytic graphite (HOPG) substrates at room temperature with an initial oxygen understoichiometry of about 4%, resulting in a net stoichiometry of V(2)O(4.8). These films have been intercalated by sodium using vacuum deposition with subsequent spontaneous intercalation (NaV(2)O(5)) at room temperature. Resonant V3p-V3d photoelectron spectroscopy (ResPES) experiments have been performed to determine the PVBDOS focusing on the calculation of occupation numbers and the determination of effective oxidation state, reflecting ionicity and covalency of the V-O bonds. Using X-ray absorption near edge spectra (XANES) an attempt is made to visualize the changes in the unoccupied DOS due to sodium intercalation. For comparison measurements on nearly stoichiometric V(2)O(5) single crystals have been performed. The experimental data for the freshly cleaved and only marginally reduced V(2)O(5) single crystals and the NaV(2)O(5) results are in good agreement with the calculated values. The ResPES results for V(2)O(4.8) agree in principle with the calculations, but the trends in the change of the ionicity differ between experiment and theory. Experimentally we find partly occupied V 3d states above the oxygen 2p-like states and a band gap between these and the unoccupied states. In theory one finds this occupation scheme assuming oxygen vacancies in V(2)O(5) and by performing a spin-polarized calculation of an antiferromagnetic ordered NaV(2)O(5.).