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Preparation and structure of Fe-containing aluminosilicate thin films
Héloïse Tissot1, Linfei Li1, Shamil Shaikhutdinov1
1Department of Chemical Physics, Fritz Haber Institute, Faradayweg 4-6, 14195 Berlin, Germany. shaikhutdinov@fhi-berlin.mpg.de.
Physical Chemistry Chemical Physics : PCCP
|October 7, 2016
Summary
Iron incorporation into aluminosilicate films reveals segregation into distinct phases rather than random substitution. This finding suggests in-frame iron species formation is unfavorable in silicalites and zeolites.
Area of Science:
- Materials Science
- Surface Chemistry
- Mineralogy
Background:
- Fabricating model systems of iron-containing aluminosilicates is crucial for understanding layered mineral surface chemistry.
- Previous studies have explored iron incorporation in various silicate structures.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate the incorporation of iron into silicate and aluminosilicate bilayer films grown on Ru(0001).
- To elucidate the structural behavior and phase formation of iron within these model systems.
Main Methods:
- Low energy electron diffraction (LEED)
- X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS)
- Infrared reflection-absorption spectroscopy (IRRAS)
- Scanning tunneling microscopy (STM)
Main Results:
- Iron does not randomly substitute Si(Al) cations but segregates into pure silicate/aluminosilicate and Fe-silicate phases.
- An FeO(111)-like layer forms underneath a silicate layer, even at low iron concentrations.
- At high Fe/(Si + Al) ratios, films exhibit two phases with a surface silicate layer and a bottom FeO layer, with aluminum migrating to the surface as alumina clusters at higher temperatures.
Conclusions:
- The formation of in-frame Fe species in silicalites and zeolites is thermodynamically unfavorable.
- This research advances the rational design of model systems for studying the surface chemistry of layered minerals.
