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Multiscale Sampling of a Heterogeneous Water/Metal Catalyst Interface using Density Functional Theory and Force-Field Molecular Dynamics
Published on: April 12, 2019
Cooperative Formation of Long-Range Ordering in Water Ad-layers on Fe3 O4 (111) Surfaces
Francesca Mirabella1, Eman Zaki1, Francisco Ivars-Barceló1
1Fritz-Haber-Institute, Max Planck Society, Faradayweg 4-6, 14195, Berlin, Germany.
Abstract:
The initial stages of water adsorption on magnetite Fe3 O4 (111) surface and the atomic structure of the water/oxide interface remain controversial. Herein, we provide experimental results obtained by infrared reflection-absorption spectroscopy (IRAS) and temperature-programmed desorption (TPD), corroborated by density functional theory (DFT) calculations showing that water readily dissociates on Fetet sites to form two hydroxo species. These act as an anchor for water molecules to form a dimer complex which self-assembles into an ordered (2×2) structure. Water ad-layer ordering is rationalized in terms of a cooperative effect induced by a hydrogen-bonding network.
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