AVS 51st International Symposium
    Surface Science Friday Sessions
       Session SS1-FrM

Paper SS1-FrM1
Wetting and Dissociation of Water on Cu(111) and Cu(110)

Friday, November 19, 2004, 8:20 am, Room 210B

Session: Hydrated Surface Phenomena
Presenter: T. Schiros, Stockholm University, Sweden
Authors: T. Schiros, Stockholm University, Sweden
H. Öström, Stockholm University, Sweden
K. Andersson, Stockholm University, Sweden
O. Takahashi, Stockholm University, Sweden
L.G.M. Pettersson, Stockholm University, Sweden
A. Nilsson, Stanford Synchrotron Radiation Laboratory
H. Ogasawara, Stanford Synchrotron Radiation Laboratory
Correspondent: Click to Email
A fundamental understanding of the factors that control the interaction of water metal surfaces is indispensable in predicting electrochemical interactions and pathways for dissociation. Here we address the adsorption of water on Cu(111) and Cu(110) using x-ray absorption and x-ray photoelectron spectroscopy experiments combined with density functional theory calculations. We have found that water adsorbs intact on both surfaces, and wets Cu(110) by forming a monolayer prior to ice formation. In contrast, water does not wet Cu(111), but rather forms three-dimensional ice-like clusters upon adsorption. Our calculations show a much weaker electrostatic interaction and a stronger Pauli repulsion with the oxygen lone pair on Cu(111) compared to Cu(110). We have also investigated how these factors affect the wetting capabilities of water on other metals. We discuss the influence of the d-band density of states with respect to the Fermi level.