The segregation of boron and its reactivity towards oxygen has been investigated by means of AES, XPS, UPS and ELS (in the electronic range) in the temperature range 11)0-1300 K. The segregation of boron in a Rh foil started from 700 K. The ~egregated boron produced a peak in XPS for the B(ls) level a~ 187.8 eV and emissions in UPS at 4,0 and 8,6-9.0 eV for B(2p) and B(2sp2), respectively, Analysis of the results suggested that the segregated boron on Rat foil mainly forms dimers or islands, instead of isolated monomers, without any significant charge transfer between rhodium and boron, Upon oxygen adsorption the B(ls) and O(ls) levels shifted to higher binding euergy (to 191,5 ~lnd 532.6 eV, respectively) and a new loss in the EELS was produced at 9,4 eV, demonstrating a strong chemical interaction between oxygen and boron. The interaction occurs at as low as 159 K, as indicated by tbe development of the 9.4 eV loss feature, It is assumed that boron suboxides are formed in which the B-B bond is retained, The cleavage of the B-B bond starts above 400 K attd is completed at 750 K, when the 2sp: hybrid state at 8.6-9.0 eV in the UPS, due to the B-B bond, is no longer detected. Formation of a polymer-like B:O3 species is proposed which reacts with elemental boron above 900 K to give B:O~.
I. fail'eductionThe presence of adatoms (either as impurities or promot.rs) on metal surfaces can drastically influence the surface reactivity; this is in most cases attributed to an electronic interaction between the adatoms and the metals. However, there is increasing evidence that surface adatoms can interact directly with gaseous molecules, thereby strongly influencing the reactivity [1].We recently demonstrated that boron impurity segregating to a Rh surface dramatically alters the reactivity of the Rh surface towards N-and O-contain. ing moieties, such as CN [2], NO [3], CO 2 [41 and H~O 151, A possible reason for this phenomenon is that boron forms very strong bonds with N and O, which can promote the processes of surface dissociation of the adsorbed molecules. Following surface dissociation, we detected the formation of dissociation products via thermal desorption, and a new feature at 9,4 and 7.2 eV 0169-4332/89/$03.50