Abstract. CO oxidation on a clean Pt(111) single crystal and thin iron oxide films grown on Pt(111) was studied at different CO:O 2 ratios (between 1:5 and 5:1) and partial pressures up to 60 mbar at 400 -450 K. Structural characterization of the model catalysts was performed by scanning tunneling microscopy, low energy electron diffraction, Auger electron spectroscopy and temperature programmed desorption. It is found that monolayer FeO (111) films grown on Pt(111) are much more active than clean Pt(111) and nm-thick Fe 3 O 4 (111) films at all reaction conditions studied. Post-characterization of the catalysts revealed that at CO:O 2 >1 the FeO(111) film dewets the Pt surface with time, ultimately resulting in highly dispersed iron oxide particles on Pt(111). The film dewetting was monitored in situ by polarisation-modulated infrared reflection absorption spectroscopy. The reaction rate at 450 K exhibited first order for O 2 and non-monotonously depended on CO pressure. In O 2 -rich ambient the films were enriched with oxygen while maintaining the long range ordering.Based on the structure-reactivity relationships observed for the FeO/Pt films, we propose that the reaction proceeds through the formation of a well-ordered, oxygen-rich FeO x (1 < x < 2) film that reacts with CO through the redox mechanism. The reaction induced dewetting in fact deactivates the catalyst. The results may aid in our deeper understanding of reactivity of metal particles encapsulated by thin oxide films as a result of strong metal support interaction.

The chemistry in low pressure (0.8-8 Pa) plasmas of H(2) + 10% N(2) mixtures has been experimentally investigated in a hollow cathode dc reactor using electrical probes for the estimation of electron temperatures and densities, and mass spectrometry to determine the concentration of ions and stable neutral species. The analysis of the measurements by means of a kinetic model has allowed the identification of the main physicochemical mechanisms responsible for the observed distributions of neutrals and ions and for their evolution with discharge pressure. The chemistry of neutral species is dominated by the formation of appreciable amounts of NH(3) at the metallic walls of the reactor through the successive hydrogenation of atomic nitrogen and nitrogen containing radicals. Both Eley-Rideal and Langmuir-Hinshelwood mechanisms are needed in the chain of hydrogenation steps in order to account satisfactorily for the observed ammonia concentrations, which, in the steady state, are found to reach values ~30-70% of those of N(2). The ionic composition of the plasma, which is entirely due to gas-phase processes, is the result of a competition between direct electron impact dissociation, more relevant for high electron temperatures (lower pressures), and ion-molecule chemistry that prevails for the lower electron temperatures (higher pressures). At the lowest pressure, products from the protonation of the precursor molecules (H(3)(+), N(2)H(+) and NH(4)(+)) and others from direct ionization (H(2)(+) and NH(3)(+)) are found in comparable amounts. At the higher pressures, the ionic distribution is largely dominated by ammonium. It is found that collisions of H(3)(+), NH(3)(+) and N(2)H(+) with the minor neutral component NH(3) are to a great extent responsible for the final prevalence of NH(4)(+).

Global ab initio structure optimizations combined with statistical thermodynamics and experimental studies reveal atomic structures of the ordered water monolayer on the MgO(001) surface. Calculations based on density functional theory predict the existence of two stable surface structures: a c(4Â2) structure containing ten water molecules per unit cell stable at low temperature and a p(3Â2) structure containing six water molecules per unit cell stable at high temperature. Both structures feature four surface hydroxyl groups resulting from the dissociation of two water molecules per surface cell. The calculated properties of the two structures are in agreement with a multitude of experimental data, including infrared reflection absorption, sum frequency generation and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy. Comparison of calculated and experimental vibrational spectra allows for assignment of the observed vibrational modes.

Hydroxylation of MgO surfaces has been studied from UHV to mbar pressure for MgO(001) films of different thickness grown on Ag(001) by X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy, infrared reflection absorption spectroscopy, and density functional theory calculations. In agreement with earlier studies on MgO(001) single crystals, a threshold water pressure on the order of 10 -4 mbar is found for extensive hydroxylation of thick, bulklike MgO films. Decreasing the MgO film thickness shifts the threshold pressure to lower values, being 10 -6 mbar in the limit of 2 monolayer MgO(001)/Ag(001). This result is explained on the basis of the precursor state of periclase MgO(001) dissolution involving hydrolysis of Mg-O surface bonds. The enhanced structural flexibility (polaronic distortion) of the ultrathin MgO film facilitates surface hydroxylation by lowering the barrier for hydrolysis.