STM Investigations of Confined Transition Metal Chalcogenide Colloidal Particles

ABSTRACTThe chemical reactivity of catalytic surfaces often arises from a unique crystal or electronic structure confined to the first few atomic layers. Scanning Tunneling Microscopy (STM) is particularly well suited to studying the spatially confined structural properties of such systems. In this paper, I report recent advances in the characterization of colloidal layered transition metal chalcogenides using STM. These particles mimic the surface (layer edge) properties of bulk catalytic materials. It is found that the materials adopt distinct equilibrium chemical and electronic structures as compared to the bulk. The possible significance of these novel structures in regard to the bulk catalytic functionality of the parent material will be briefly discussed.