The interaction of pyridine (C 5 H 5 N) with the two differently terminated ZnO͑0001͒ surfaces has been investigated using thermal desorption spectroscopy ͑TDS͒, x-ray photoelectron spectroscopy ͑XPS͒, and x-ray absorption spectroscopy ͑NEXAFS͒. The binding energy of pyridine on the O-terminated ZnO͑000-1͒ surface amounts to 57 kJ/mol and the spectroscopic data reveal only small modifications of the pyridine electronic structure, indicating the presence of a physisorbed species. On the Zn-terminated ZnO͑0001͒ surface, the binding energy is substantially higher, 112 kJ/mol, and the N1s NEXAFS data for the pyridine * resonance shows a shift of 0.6 eV toward higher binding energies. This observation indicates a substantial interaction between the nitrogen lone pair and Zn, as is confirmed by precise ab initio calculations of the core-level excitation.
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