Titanium Tetraisopropoxide Adsorption and Decomposition on Cu(111)

Titanium tetraisopropoxide (TTIP) molecules have been deposited on the copper substrate Cu(111) with monolayer coverage at cryogenic, room and elevated temperatures and studied by variable temperature scanning tunneling microscope (STM), X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), low electron energy diffraction (LEED) and X-ray absorption near edge structure (XANES) spectroscopy using the synchrotron radiation. Adsorption and irregular assembling of entire molecules are observed at low temperatures. At room temperature, STM reveals an agglomeration of TTIP molecular fragments. The XPS analysis confirms presence of ligand groups bonded to molecular center, indicating a partial decomposition process up to 670 K. TTIP molecules start to decompose completely on copper surface at elevated temperatures, higher than 800 K. Hexagonal surface oxide structure is formed after TTIP monolayer thermal decomposition at 870 K, as it is proved by LEED and STM.