Rapid oxygen exchange between hematite and water vapor.

ABSTRACT: Oxygen exchange at oxide/liquid and oxide/gas interfaces is important in technology and environmental studies, as it is closely linked to both catalytic activity and material degradation. The atomic-scale details are mostly unknown, however, and are often ascribed to poorly defined defects in the crystal lattice. Here we show that even thermodynamically stable, well-ordered surfaces can be surprisingly reactive. Specifically, we show that all the 3-fold coordinated lattice oxygen atoms on a defect-free single-crystalline "r-cut" ([Formula: see text]) surface of hematite (α-Fe₂O₃) are exchanged with oxygen from surrounding water vapor within minutes at temperatures below 70 °C, while the atomic-scale surface structure is unperturbed by the process. A similar behavior i

SUBMITTER: Jakub Z 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC8580966 | biostudies-literature | 2021 Nov

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature