XPS CHEMICAL SHIFTS FOR CO ADSORBED ON Ni(100): A THEORETICAL STUDY
Starting from the observed chemical shift of C-1s and O-1s ionization potentials (IP), reported in the literature for the adsorption of CO on Ni (100), and correlated to the different CO adsorption sites at different coverages, we have carried out a theoretical investigation, using a first-principle density-functional method, to calculate ionization energies for adsorbed CO in the atop and bridge sites. In our approach, the Ni (100) surface was simulated with clusters of up to nine metal atoms of different geometry, in order to test the two adsorption sites. For each cluster, the CO adsorption geometry was optimized and the O-1s and C-1s ionizations were calculated. The main result was that the (O-1s–C-1s) difference was very well reproduced even with clusters of modest size, thus confirming the possibility to use this value as a structure-sensitive parameter.