Electronic process of Cu(Ag, V, Rh)(001) surface oxidation: atomic valence evolution and bonding kinetics

Abstract The electronic processes of Cu(Ag, V, Rh)(0 0 1) surface oxidation are comparatively analyzed based on the recent ‘chemical bond–valence band–potential barrier’ (BBB) correlation mechanism [C.Q. Sun, Prog. Mater. Sci. 48, 521–685 (2003)], which allows reaction formulae for all the observed phases with identification of individual atomic valence and the binding kinetics at the surfaces with the same geometry. It is consistently understood that the forming kinetics of the primary oxide tetrahedron and its derivative on the valence density-of-states (DOS) are intrinsically common for all these analyzed systems, though the patterns of observation in terms of morphology and crystallography vary from situation to situation. However, the lattice size and electronegativity of the host surfaces determine extrinsically the site selectivity of the oxygen, the order of bond formation and the orientation of the oxide tetrahedron.