| AVS 58th Annual International Symposium and Exhibition | |
| Surface Science Division | Thursday Sessions |
| Session SS-ThM |
| Session: | Oxide Surface Structure & Reactivity |
| Presenter: | Ivan Ermanoski, Sandia National Laboratories |
| Authors: | I. Ermanoski, Sandia National Laboratories G.L. Kellogg, Sandia National Laboratories |
| Correspondent: | Click to Email |
We have used low energy electron microscopy (LEEM) to study in real time the growth of iron oxides on the fully oxidized and partially reduced (001) and (111) surfaces of yttria‑stabilized zirconia (YSZ). The FeOx-YSZ system is currently used as a working material for solar thermochemical splitting of H2O and CO2 [1], but little fundamental information is available concerning the structure and composition of the mixed oxides and their surfaces. Upon Fe deposition in ~10-6 Torr of O2 background pressure, iron oxides grow on the surface. Low energy electron diffraction (LEED) patterns, dark field LEEM imaging, and LEEM I‑V measurements show that the composition and morphology of the surface oxide is very diverse, and depends on the substrate stoichiometry, crystallographic orientation, as well as on the deposition conditions and film thickness.
This work was supported by the LDRD program at Sandia National Laboratories, in the form of a Grand Challenge project entitled Reimagining Liquid Transportation Fuels: Sunshine to Petrol. Sandia is a multi‑program laboratory operated by Sandia Corporation, a wholly owned subsidiary of Lockheed Martin Company, for the U.S. Department of Energy’s NNSA under contract DE‑AC0494AL85000.
[1] Diver, R.B., Miller, J.E., Allendorf, M.D., Siegel, N.P., Hogan, R.E., “Solar thermochemical water‑splitting ferrite‑cycle heat engines”, Journal of Solar Energy Engineering, 130 (2008) 041001