An in situ STM and DTS study of the extremely pure [EMIM]FAP/Au(111) interface

Natalia Borisenko; Sherif Zein El Abedin; Frank Endres

doi:10.1002/cphc.201100873

An in situ STM and DTS study of the extremely pure [EMIM]FAP/Au(111) interface

Chemphyschem. 2012 May 14;13(7):1736-42. doi: 10.1002/cphc.201100873. Epub 2011 Dec 30.

Authors

Natalia Borisenko¹, Sherif Zein El Abedin, Frank Endres

Affiliation

¹ Institute of Particle Technology, Clausthal University of Technology, Arnold-Sommerfeld-Strasse 6, 38678 Clausthal-Zellerfeld, Germany. natalia.borissenko@tu-clausthal.de

PMID: 22213246
DOI: 10.1002/cphc.201100873

Abstract

Herein the structure of the interfacial layer between the air- and water-stable ionic liquid 1-ethyl-3-methylimidazolium tris(pentafluoroethyl)trifluorophosphate ([EMIM]FAP) and Au(111) is investigated using in situ scanning tunneling microscopy (STM), distance tunneling spectroscopy (DTS) and cyclic voltammetry (CV) measurements. The in situ STM measurements reveal that structured interfacial layers can be probed in both cathodic and anodic regimes at the IL/Au(111) interface. The structure of these layers is dependent on the applied electrode potential, the number of subsequent STM scans and the scan rate. Furthermore, first DTS results show that the tunneling barrier during the 1st STM scan does not seem to change significantly in the cathodic potential regime between the ocp (-0.2 V) and -2.0 V.