Cryo-XPS – A new technique for the quantitative analysis of the structure of electric double layer at colloidal particles?

Advanced XPS characterization: XPS-based multi-technique analyses for comprehensive understanding of functional materials

“…Cryo-XPS provides several clear advantages over conventional preparation by avoiding steps such as freeze drying which can damage the surfaces of more sensitive samples while providing ostensibly in situ measurements. 136,137 Furthermore, the presence of a hydrated layer also reduces levels of adventitious carbon because these carbon contaminants tend to be trapped in the first few layers, which are lost during sublimation. 138,139 Key considerations are the condensation of volatile species from the laboratory atmosphere onto the surface of the cooled sample and potential issues with sample warming on transfer between cooling, transfer and analysis stages.…”

Reaction surfaces and interfaces of metal sulfides: cryo-XPS meets HAXPES and DFT

“…In contrast to a “freeze-drying” procedure 10 that means, in fact, the cooling of desiccated samples, the fast-freezing allows both volatile surface species and a thin, 1–2 nm, film of the aqueous phase containing near-surface solutes, adsorbates and adhered solid species to be kept. Cryo-XPS has been successfully used for the investigation of many objects, for example, electrical double layers, 8,11 the products of sorption and chemical reactions, including at metal sulfides, 12–15 living cells and viruses, 16 and so forth. However, a number of methodological questions remain unclear, requiring further investigation with a wide range of objects.…”