Title: Temperature dependent morphological evolution of Rh nanopyramids

Authors: Govind; Theodore E. Madey

Addresses: National Physical Laboratory, Council of Scientific and Industrial Research, Dr. K.S. Krishnan Marg, New Delhi 110012, India ' Department of Physics and Astronomy, Laboratory for Surface Modification, Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey, 136 Frelinghuysen Road, Piscataway, NJ 08854, USA

Abstract: The temperature dependent oxygen-induced nanopyramidal faceting of atomically rough Rh(210) surface has been studied using scanning tunnelling microscopy (STM). Rh(210) surface is annealed in oxygen at temperature ≥550 K, the surface completely covered with nanometre-scale facets. The annealing temperature is found to be one of the responsible factors for the nucleation and growth of faceted surface which is characterised as three-sided nanoscale pyramids exposing one reconstructed (110) and two {731} faces on each pyramid. STM measurements confirm that the average size of the nanopyramids depends upon the annealing temperature. Our experimental results revealed that the fine structure of the Rh nanopyramids is influence by the change in the oxygen coverage. Nanopyramidal faceted Rh(210) could be used as a potential template for studies of structure sensitive reactions.

Keywords: faceting; Rh nanopyramids; rhodium; scanning tunnelling microscopy; catalysis; atomically rough surfaces; nanotechnology; oxygen coverage.

DOI: 10.1504/IJNT.2012.049455

International Journal of Nanotechnology, 2012 Vol.9 No.10/11/12, pp.907 - 913

Published online: 04 Oct 2012 *

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