Results were obtained for hydrogen adsorbed onto metal oxide surfaces using helium-atom scattering. The hydrogen adlayers were prepared by exposing clean and well-defined metal oxide surfaces to molecular or atomic hydrogen. The helium-atom scattering measurements were complemented by low-energy electron diffraction and X-ray photo-electron spectroscopy. The results revealed the formation of ordered H (1 x 1) overlayers on rutile TiO2(110), the polar Zn–ZnO surface and ZnO (10•0). On Al2O3 (11•0), exposure to atomic hydrogen did not lead to the formation of an ordered hydrogen adlayer, whereas on the polar O–ZnO surface the hydrogen lifted the (1 x 3) reconstruction seen for the clean surface.

Hydrogen Adsorption on Metal Oxide Surfaces - a Reinvestigation using He-Atom Scattering. C.Wöll: Journal of Physics - Condensed Matter, 2004, 16[29], S2981-94