The chemical behaviour of solid material surfaces is an important physical characteristic for applications of catalysis, chemical sensors, fuel cells and electrodes. A research team from the Max Planck Institute for Chemical Energy Conversion has now described an important phenomenon that can occur when metal alloys are exposed to reactive environments at the synchrotron source BESSY II.
In a recent work published in ACS Applied Materials & Interfaces, a researchers’ team led by Dr. Mark Greiner (Surface Structure Analysis, Department of Heterogeneous Reactions) demonstrates an important phenomenon that can occur when metal alloys face reactive environments. They can form meta-stable 2D oxides on their surfaces. Such oxides exhibit chemical and electronic properties that are different from their bulk counterparts. Due to their meta-stability, their existence is also difficult to predict.
Read more on the BESSY II (at HZB) website
Image : Illustration of a CuxOy structure formed on a AgCu alloy in oxidizing environments described in this work. (c) ACS Applied Materials & Interfaces.
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