Understanding the equilibrium conditions at the metal oxide/aqueous interface is a key component towards differentiating the activity of transition metal oxides for water oxidation. Here, results on ambient pressure X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (AP-XPS) that investigate hydroxylation and water adsorption on the surface of TiO2-terminated, un-doped SrTiO3 are presented. We use this model surface to show that the measured distribution is in close agreement with DFT calculations for water and hydroxyl coverages up to the first hydration layer. The challenges to and methodology for reaching this agreement are described, which should provide a pathway for a detailed understanding of the first hydration layer on many other transition metal oxide surfaces and critical to structure-activity relationships for water oxidation under ambient conditions. To that end, recent results on n-doped surfaces of SrTiO3, for which the coverages change markedly, will also be presented.

First hydration layer of hydroxylation and water adsorption on SrTiO3: Experiment (AP-XPS) & theory

2019 Fall National Meeting

The official archive and repository for all ACS Meetings & Expositions abstracts and select posters or presentations.