Electronic signatures of a model pollutant-particle system: chemisorbed phenol on TiO₂(110).

ABSTRACT: Environmentally persistent free radicals (EPFRs) are a class of composite organic/metal oxide pollutants that have recently been discovered to form from a wide variety of substituted benzenes chemisorbed to commonly encountered oxides. Although a qualitative understanding of EPFR formation on particulate metal oxides has been achieved, a detailed understanding of the charge transfer mechanism that must accompany the creation of an unpaired radical electron is lacking. In this study, we perform photoelectron spectroscopy and electron energy loss spectroscopy on a well-defined model system-phenol chemisorbed on TiO2(110) to directly observe changes in the electronic structure of the oxide and chemisorbed phenol as a function of adsorption temperature. We show strong evidence that, upon expos

SUBMITTER: Patterson MC 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC4407492 | biostudies-literature | 2015 Apr

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature