A first-principles study of bulk oxide formation on Pd (100)

Author(s)
Nicola Seriani, Judith Harl, Florian Mittendorfer, Georg Kresse
Abstract

The catalytic oxidation activity of palladium is influenced by the oxidation state of the metal. Under technologically relevant conditions, bulk and surface oxides may form and decompose. By employing first-principles calculations based on density functional theory, we have investigated the transition from the surface oxide to the bulk oxide on Pd(100). We show that the most stable orientation of the oxide film is PdO(101)@Pd(100) at any film thickness. The monolayer has unique electronic, chemical, and thermodynamic properties in comparison to thicker oxide films. In particular, carbon monoxide adsorbs by similar to 0.3 eV more strongly on thicker oxides than on the surface oxide, a fact that should influence the catalytical activity. Finally, we show that a simple model employing density functional theory energies predicts a Stranski-Krastanov growth mode for the oxide film, with a critical thickness of 1 ML. Our results give a framework for the interpretation of experiments of Pd oxide growth.

Organisation(s)
Computational Materials Physics
Journal
Journal of Chemical Physics
Volume
131
No. of pages
7
ISSN
0021-9606
DOI
https://doi.org/10.1063/1.3187935
Publication date
2009
Peer reviewed
Yes
Austrian Fields of Science 2012
103009 Solid state physics, 103015 Condensed matter, 103025 Quantum mechanics, 103036 Theoretical physics
Portal url
https://ucrisportal.univie.ac.at/en/publications/42000c93-e91a-4f8b-ab02-3c3b1c9eba98