Engineering surface dipoles on mixed conducting oxides with ultra-thin oxide decoration layers
Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › Research › peer-review
Authors
Organisational units
External Organisational units
- Institute of Materials Science and Technology
- Department of Materials Science & EngineeringMassachusetts Institute of Technology
Abstract
Improving materials for energy conversion and storage devices is deeply connected with an optimization of their surfaces and surface modification is a promising strategy on the way to enhance modern energy technologies. This study shows that surface modification with ultra-thin oxide layers allows for a systematic tailoring of the surface dipole and the work function of mixed ionic and electronic conducting oxides, and it introduces the ionic potential of surface cations as a readily accessible descriptor for these effects. The combination of X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) and density functional theory (DFT) illustrates that basic oxides with a lower ionic potential than the host material induce a positive surface charge and reduce the work function of the host material and vice versa. As a proof of concept that this strategy is widely applicable to tailor surface properties, we examined the effect of ultra-thin decoration layers on the oxygen exchange kinetics of pristine mixed conducting oxide thin films in very clean conditions by means of in-situ impedance spectroscopy during pulsed laser deposition (i-PLD). The study shows that basic decorations with a reduced surface work function lead to a substantial acceleration of the oxygen exchange on the surfaces of diverse materials.
Details
Original language | English |
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Article number | 1730 |
Number of pages | 10 |
Journal | Nature Communications |
Volume | 15.2024 |
Issue number | 1 |
DOIs | |
Publication status | Published - Feb 2024 |