Electron energy loss spectroscopic investigation of palladium metal and palladium(II) oxide

Abstract

Electron energy loss spectra (ELS) obtained from polycrystalline Pd metal and PdO powder using primary electron energies ranging from 100 to 1150 eV have been obtained and examined in an attempt to gain a better understanding of the origins of the loss features and to assess the utility of ELS in investigations of Pd catalysts. The two sets of ELS spectra differ significantly. The ELS spectra from Pd metal exhibit a predominant peak at 6.5 eV, shown to arise from a surface plasmon excitation, and two broad features at 25.1 and 31.9 eV, which originate from bulk loss processes. The broad features consist of several overlapping losses due mainly to interband transitions from the d-band, though a bulk plasmon excitation is believed to produce a feature near 24 eV. Two distinct peaks are present at 3.7 and 7.6 eV in the ELS spectra obtained from PdO, while a broad region of intensity appears over the range from 20 to 40 eV. The peak at 3.7 eV is attributed to a transition between the top of the valence band and the bottom of the conduction band. The feature at 7.6 eV is broad and arises from several overlapping features that are most likely caused by interband transitions rather than collective excitations. Furthermore, the ELS spectra obtained from PdO and oxidized Pd are also quite different indicating that ELS can provide useful information for determining the bonding states of oxygen on Pd-containing catalysts.