Oxidation of Pt(110) -: art. no. 146104

Using scanning tunneling microscopy and temperature programed desorption we investigate the Pt(110) surface under strongly oxidizing conditions involving either high-pressure O-2 or atomic oxygen exposure. At low temperatures, only disordered Pt oxide structures are observed. After annealing ordered surface oxide islands are observed to coexist with a highly stable reconstructed (12x2)-O chemisorption structure. From density functional theory calculations a model for the surface oxide phase is revealed. The phase is found to be metastable, and its presence is explained in terms of stabilizing defects in the chemisorption layer and reduced Pt mobility.