Adsorption-site-dependent electronic structure of catechol on the anatase TiO2(101) surface

S.-C. Li1, Y. Losovyj2, U. Diebold1,3

1 Department of Physics and Engineering Physics, Tulane University, New Orleans, Louisiana 70118, U.S.A.
2 Center for Advanced Microstructures and Devices, Louisiana State Univeristy, Baton Rouge, Louisiana 70806, U.S.A.
3 Institut für Angewandte Physik, Technische Universität Wien, 1040 Wien, Austria

Langmuir 27 (2011) 8600-8604

The adsorption of catechol (1,2-benzendiol) on the anatase TiO2(101) surface was studied with synchrotron-based ultraviolet photoemission spectroscopy (UPS), X-ray photoemission spectroscopy (XPS), and scanning tunneling microscopy (STM). Catechol adsorbs with a unity sticking coefficient and the phenyl ring intact. STM reveals preferred nucleation at step edges and subsurface point defects, followed by 1D growth and the formation of a 2×1 superstructure at full coverage. A gap state of 1 eV above the valence band maximum is observed for dosages in excess of 0.4 Langmuir, but such a state is absent for lower coverages. The formation of the band gap states thus correlates with the adsorption at regular lattice sites and the onset of self-assembled superstructures.

Corresponding author: U. Diebold (diebold at iap_tuwien_ac_at).

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