Oxidation and reduction reactions are of central importance in chemistry as well as vital to the basic functions of life and such chemical processes are generally brought about by oxidizing and reducing agents, respectively. Herein, we report the discovery of an interfacial reduction reaction (IRR) − without the use of any external reducing agent. In course of metal−ligand coordination, spontaneous reduction of Cu(II) to Cu(I) at a solid−liquid interface was observed−unlike in a liquid-phase reaction where no reduction of Cu(II) to Cu(I) was occurred. High-quality thin films of a new coordination network compound bearing a Fe(II)−CN−Cu(I) link were fabricated by IRR and employed for efficient electro-catalysis in the form of oxygen reduction reaction. Also, thermally activated reversible structural phase transition modulated the electron transport property in thin film. This work unveils the importance of chemical reactions at solid−liquid interfaces that can lead to the development of new functional thin film materials.
The electronic structure of Au-Sn intermetallic layers of different compositions grown on Au (111) to the thickness of several nanometers has been studied in this work. The layer, interface and the substrate related components in the Au 4f and Sn 4d core-level spectra obtained using x-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) vary with deposition parameters to reveal the details of the Au-Sn formation. While AuSn is grown by deposition at room temperature, Au rich compounds form as a result of heat treatment through inter diffusion of Au and Sn. Deposition at high temperature arXiv:1911.10002v2 [cond-mat.mtrl-sci]
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