Photoelectron spectroscopic study on the interaction of l-cysteine with the silver-based dental alloy

Abstract

The electronic structure of the silver-based dental alloy MC12 and its constituent metals and their interaction with l-cysteine have been investigated by ultraviolet photoelectron spectroscopy (UPS) using synchrotron radiation. The UPS spectra of l-cysteine on polycrystalline Ag, Cu, Pd, and Au substrates have been measured to understand the interaction of l-cysteine with the dental alloy surface. It was found that the electronic states of MC12 originate dominantly from Cu 3d states and Pd 4d states around the top of the valence bands, while the 4–7-eV electronic structure of MC12 originates from the Ag 4 d5/2 and Ag 4 d3/2 states. For l-cysteine, it was found that a new peak at 2 eV is observed for the thin films on Ag, Cu, and Au, while the structure around 2 eV on MC12 is similar to that on Pd. The shift of the 5-eV peak is observed for the thin films on Cu, Pd, and Au, but not on Ag and MC12. These results indicate that the interaction of l-cysteine with MC12 may be dominantly due to the Pd-S, Cu-S, and Ag-O bonds, while the contribution of the Ag-S bond is small.