Comparing Surface Binding of the Maleic Anhydride Anchor Group on Single Crystalline Anatase TiO₂ (101), (100), and (001) Surfaces

Abstract

We report on the surface binding of the maleic anhydride (C4H2O3, MA) on the TiO2 anatase (101), (100), and (001) single crystal surfaces. The MA anchor group has recently been used for dye adsorption in solar cells based on nanostructured anatase, and the results reported here are partly discussed with respect to such systems. MA was deposited simultaneously onto the (101), (100), and (001) TiO2 single crystal surfaces in UHV, and the surface binding was investigated with electron spectroscopy. The O1s and C1s core-level spectra were compared to a multilayer of MA to investigate the differences in bonding to the anatase surfaces. The results suggest a surface chemistry where the molecule reacts and the MA ring opens when adsorbed at the (101) and (100) surfaces. The molecule anchors via four oxygen atoms, similar to bonding with two carboxylic groups on TiO2. For the (001) surface, the spectra indicated a different adsorption geometry. A small amount of electronic states in the bandgap of the TiO2 surfaces was observed both before and after MA was deposited onto the surfaces, and on the (101) and (100) surfaces, the intensity of these surface states was slightly enhanced after deposition of MA.