Earlier work, based upon ex situ surface analytical measurements, found that a disordered Pd(111) surface could be spontaneously reordered upon exposure, at ambient conditions, to a dilute aqueous solution of iodide. This phenomenon was re-examined by in situ atom-resolved scanning tunnelling microscopy. The results from the present study, while corroborating the chemisorption-induced disorder-to-order surface reconstruction observed earlier, indicated that the kinetics of the structural rearrangements might not be as rapid as initially thought.

Adsorbate-Induced Disorder-to-Order Surface Reconstruction - Iodine on Pd(111) Revisited by EC-STM. Y.G.Kim, J.H.Baricuatro, M.P.Soriaga, D.W.Suggs: Journal of Electroanalytical Chemistry, 2001, 509[2], 170-4