Thioethanol on Cu(111) at room temperature: A near edge x-ray absorption fine structure and x-ray photoelectron spectroscopy study

Abstract

Orientation and charge transfer upon adsorption of thioethanol on copper surface at room temperature has been studied by near edge x-ray absorption fine structure (NEXAFS) and x-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) techniques. It is found that thioethanol adsorbs dissociatively on the Cu(111) surface. Polarization dependent S K-edge NEXAFS indicates that the S–C bond is tilted 47±7° from the surface. Above 400 K, the S–C bond breaks and creates atomic sulfur. An amount of charge transfer (one electron) from copper to thioethanol molecules was measured using S 1s XPS.