The adsorption and thermal decomposition of water on clean and oxygen-predosed Al(111)

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Abstract
The adsorption of water on both clean and oxygen‐predosed Al(111) has been studied by vibrational spectroscopy using electron energy loss spectroscopy (EELS). At 130 K, adsorption on either surface is competitively associative and dissociative. The dominant dissociation product is a hydroxyl species. On the clean surface, adsorption is predominantly molecular, while in the presence of oxygen, adsorption is predominantly dissociative. In contrast to the low temperature behavior, adsorption of water on clean Al(111) at 300 K is completely dissociative, resulting in oxygen adsorption and surface oxidation. Adsorbed hydroxyl species can be produced at 300 K by prolonged water exposure. Upon heating a low‐temperature water layer adsorbed on either surface, molecular water desorption and further decomposition both occur. The production of adsorbed hydroxyl species from water reaches a maximum at 250 K on the clean surface and at 350 K on the oxygen‐predosed surface. The hydroxyl species decompose above these temperatures to evolve hydrogen and further oxidize the Al(111) surface.