Characterization of Pt–Au and Ni–Au Clusters on TiO₂(110)

The surface composition and properties of Pt–Au and Ni–Au clusters on TiO₂(110) have been studied by scanning tunneling microscopy (STM), low energy ion scattering (LEIS) and soft X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (sXPS). STM studies show that bimetallic clusters are formed during sequential deposition of the two metals, regardless of the order of deposition. At the 2 ML of Au/2 ML of Pt or Ni coverages studied here, the second metal contributes to the growth of existing clusters rather than forming new pure metal clusters. LEIS experiments demonstrate that the surfaces of the bimetallic clusters are almost 100% Au when 2 ML of Au is deposited on top of 2 ML of Pt or Ni. However, a much larger fraction of Pt or Ni (50 and 20%, respectively) remains at the surface when 2 ML of Pt or Ni is deposited on 2 ML of Au, most likely due to limited diffusion of atoms within the clusters at room temperature. According to sXPS investigations, the binding energies of the metals in the bimetallic clusters are shifted from those observed for pure metal clusters; the Pt(4f_7/2) and Ni(3p_3/2) peaks are shifted to lower binding energies while the position of the Au(4f_7/2) peak is dominated by surface core level shifts. Pure Pt clusters as well as 0.4 ML of Au on 2 ML of Pt clusters reduce the titania support upon encapsulation after annealing to 800 K, whereas 2 ML of Au on 2 ML of Pt clusters do not reduce titania, presumably because there is no Pt at the surface of the clusters. Pure Ni clusters are also known to become encapsulated upon heating, but the reduction of titania is much less extensive compared to that of pure Pt clusters.