Abstract
Investigations on electronic and geometric structures of platinum adsorbed on monocrystalline gold surfaces are important for understanding the remarkable catalytic properties of bimetallic Pt-Au systems. Herein, the morphology of quasi-hexagonal (hex) Au(100) surface after deposition of platinum for coverage up to 0.5 monolayer (ML) has been investigated by scanning tunneling microscopy (STM). For coverage range 0.2-0.4 ML the creation of elongated islands with mono-atomic height is observed. The islands consist of flat phase of disordered Pt-Au alloy which coexists with nanowire-like features with a hex atom arrangement and quantized width. Annealing the Pt/Au(100) system at 100-150 °C changes the surface morphology. The islands disappear and the topmost layer of the surface consists of flat phase of Pt-Au alloy which coexists with the hex-stripes. Small domains of ordered c(2 × 2) structure of Pt-Au alloy are found. The electronic properties of this structure have been investigated by ab-initio calculations. The obtained results allow to distinguish the Pt from Au atoms by their appearance in the STM images. The calculated electronic structures indicate a bonding creation between Pt and Au atoms and an electron d-states redistribution of Pt in comparison to the bare Pt(100)-(1 × 1) surface.