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Dynamic nanoscale imaging of enriched CO adlayer on Pt(111) confined under h-BN monolayer in ambient pressure atmospheres

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Abstract

Fundamental understanding of chemistry confined to nanospace remains a challenge since molecules encapsulated in confined microenvironments are difficult to be characterized. Here, we show that CO adsorption on Pt(111) confined under monolayer hexagonal boron nitride (h-BN) can be dynamically imaged using near ambient pressure scanning tunneling microscope (NAP-STM) and thanks to tunneling transparency of the top h-BN layer. The observed CO superstructures on Pt(111) in different CO atmospheres allow to derive surface coverages of CO adlayers, which are higher in the confined nanospace between h-BN and Pt(111) than those on the open Pt surface under the same conditions. Dynamic NAP-STM imaging data together with theoretical calculations confirm confinement-induced molecule enrichment effect within the 2D nanospace, which reveals new chemistry aroused by the confined nanoreactor.

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Acknowledgements

This work was financially supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Nos. 21688102, 21621063, 91545204, and 21703274), the Ministry of Science and Technology of China (No. 2016YFA0200200), and the Strategic Priority Research Program of the Chinese Academy of Sciences (No. XDB17020000). The authors are grateful for the support for Nano-X from Suzhou Institute of Nano-Tech and Nano-Bionics, Chinese Academy of Sciences (SINANO) and discussions with Dr. Yang Yang and Dr. Haobo Li.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Chemical Physics, University of Science and Technology of China, Hefei, 230026, China

    Hao Wu & Xinhe Bao

  2. State Key Lab of Catalysis, Dalian Institute of Chemical Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Dalian, 116023, China

    Hao Wu, Qiang Fu & Xinhe Bao

  3. National Energy Center for Coal to Clean Fuels, Synfuels China Co., Ltd, Beijing, 101400, China

    Pengju Ren & Xiaodong Wen

  4. State Key Laboratory of Coal Conversion, Institute of Coal Chemistry, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Taiyuan, 030001, China

    Pengju Ren, Peng Zhao & Xiaodong Wen

  5. Vacuum Interconnected Nanotech Workstation, Suzhou Institute of Nano-Tech and Nano-Bionics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Suzhou, 215123, China

    Zhongmiao Gong & Yi Cui

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  1. Hao Wu
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  2. Pengju Ren
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  3. Peng Zhao
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Correspondence to Yi Cui or Qiang Fu.

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12274_2018_2184_MOESM1_ESM.pdf

Dynamic nanoscale imaging of enriched CO adlayer on Pt(111) confined under h-BN monolayer in ambient pressure atmospheres

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Wu, H., Ren, P., Zhao, P. et al. Dynamic nanoscale imaging of enriched CO adlayer on Pt(111) confined under h-BN monolayer in ambient pressure atmospheres. Nano Res. 12, 85–90 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12274-018-2184-8

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