Scanning tunneling microscopy studies of formaldehyde synthesis on Cu(110)

Abstract

The synthesis of formaldehyde from methanol on oxygen-predosed Cu(110) surfaces has been studied using scanning tunneling microscopy (STM). Sequential STM images show the shrinking of the (2\ifmmode\times\else\texttimes\fi{}1) Cu-O islands in the [001] direction and the formation of a (5\ifmmode\times\else\texttimes\fi{}2) methoxy-induced reconstruction that incorporates the added-row Cu atoms of the (2\ifmmode\times\else\texttimes\fi{}1) reconstruction. The decomposition of methoxy to formaldehyde occurs upon desorption; STM images show methoxy islands shrinking in the [001] direction and the release of incorporated Cu atoms.