Research Highlights

Phase Separation within Vanadium Oxide Islands under Reaction Conditions: Methanol Oxidation at Vanadium Oxide Films on Rh(111)

Bernhard von Boehn, Anton Weißbach, Jon-Olaf Krisponeit, Jan Ingo Flege, Jens Falta, Luca Gregoratti, Matteo Amati, Patrick Zeller, and Ronald Imbihl

J. Phys. Chem. C 2022, 126, 45, 19101–19112

https://doi.org/10.1021/acs.jpcc.2c04174

Submonolayer coverages of V-oxide on Rh(111) condense during catalytic methanol oxidation into a pattern of macroscopic stripes or islands. Under reaction conditions, a phase separation occurs within the VOx islands that has been studied in a pressure range of 10–6–10–4 mbar with photoemission electron microscopy (PEEM), low-energy electron microscopy (LEEM), microspot-low-energy electron diffraction (μLEED), and microspot-X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (μXPS). An oxidized outer ring with a (√7 × √7)R19.1° structure coexists with an inner (12 × 12) Moiré-type boundary layer and a reduced core exhibiting a (√3 × √3)R30° Moiré type pattern. The dependence of the substructure on the reaction conditions, on V coverage, and on island size was investigated. With μXPS, the V coverages of the different phases in the VOx islands were determined.

LEEM
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