Hydrogen Bonding Controls the Dynamics of Catechol Adsorbed on a TiO 2 (110) Surface

Abstract

Stop or Go on Oxide Surfaces Direct studies of surface diffusion with instruments such as the scanning tunneling microscope (STM) have often focused on species on metal surfaces, but surface diffusion can play an important role for reactions on metal oxide surfaces. Li et al. (p. 882 ) used STM and density functional theory calculations to study how catechol (a benzene ring bearing two −OH groups) diffuses on the surface of the rutile phase of titanium dioxide. Both mobile and immobile species were observed on the time scale of minutes while making repeated STM scans. Hydrogen atom transfers between surface OH groups and the molecule changed the interaction energy between the molecule and the surface, and hence the barrier for diffusion.