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Science 23 January 2004:
Vol. 303. no. 5657, pp. 511 - 513
DOI: 10.1126/science.1093425
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Reports

Electron Transfer-Induced Dynamics of Oxygen Molecules on the TiO2(110) Surface

Erik Wahlström, Ebbe Kruse Vestergaard, Renald Schaub, Anders Rønnau, Majken Vestergaard, Erik Lægsgaard, Ivan Stensgaard, Flemming Besenbacher*

Diffusion of oxygen molecules on transition metal oxide surfaces plays a vital role for the understanding of catalysis and photocatalysis on these materials. By means of time-resolved scanning tunneling microscopy, we provide evidence for a charge transfer–induced diffusion mechanism for O2 molecules adsorbed on a rutile TiO2(110) surface. The O2 hopping rate depended on the number of surface donors (oxygen vacancies), which determines the density of conduction band electrons. These results may have implications for the understanding of oxidation processes on metal oxides in general.

Interdisciplinary Nanoscience Center (iNANO), Center for Atomic-Scale Materials Physics (CAMP), and Department of Physics and Astronomy, University of Aarhus, DK-8000 Århus C, Denmark.

* To whom correspondence should be addressed. E-mail: fbe{at}phys.au.dk

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THIS ARTICLE HAS BEEN CITED BY OTHER ARTICLES:
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F. Esch, S. Fabris, L. Zhou, T. Montini, C. Africh, P. Fornasiero, G. Comelli, and R. Rosei (2005)
Science 309, 752-755
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