Density of States of Ru3 and Pt3 Clusters Supported on Sputter-Deposited TiO2

Liam Howard-Fabretto; Timothy J. Gorey; Guangjing Li; Siriluck Tesana; Gregory F. Metha; Scott L. Anderson; Gunther G. Andersson

arXiv · 2601.10140

Density of States of Ru3 and Pt3 Clusters Supported on Sputter-Deposited TiO2

Liam Howard-Fabretto·Timothy J. Gorey·Guangjing Li·Siriluck Tesana·Gregory F. Metha·Scott L. Anderson·Gunther G. Andersson

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Abstract

In this work, 3-atom clusters, Ru3 and Pt3, were deposited onto radio frequency RF-sputter deposited TiO2, treated with Ar+ ion sputtering. Ru3 was deposited by both solution submersion and chemical vapor deposition of Ru3(CO)12, while Pt3 was deposited under ultra-high vacuum using a laser vaporisation cluster source. The valence electronic density of states (DOS) of the deposited clusters were analysed after heat treatment using ultraviolet photoelectron spectroscopy (UPS) and metastable impact electron spectroscopy (MIES), where UPS measures the top several layers while MIES measures only the top atomic layer. XPS was used to determine the cluster surface coverages. The DOS were found to be very similar between Ru3 deposited by solution submersion and chemical vapor deposition. MIES results for Ru3 had contributions from titania O 2p sites due to encapsulation by a reduced titania overlayer. For Pt3 clusters the UPS and MIES results provided evidence that Pt was present on the topmost layer, and encapsulation did not occur. The proposed reason for the encapsulation of Ru3 but not of Pt3 is the higher surface energy of Ru over Pt. It is concluded that Pt clusters deposited onto TiO2 can modify the outermost layer by adding discrete energy levels on the surface, whereas the Ru clusters being encapsulated just below the surface generate a broad distribution of energy states close to the Fermi level. The outcome of this work is that Pt3-cluster-modified surfaces could be used as catalysts for reactions where the Pt3 energy levels are suitable for the respective reaction. The implication of the DOS found for photocatalytic water splitting are discussed.

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Liam Howard-Fabretto, Timothy J. Gorey, Guangjing Li, Siriluck Tesana, Gregory F. Metha, Scott L. Anderson, Gunther G. Andersson. 2026-01-15. Density of States of Ru3 and Pt3 Clusters Supported on Sputter-Deposited TiO2. https://arxiv.org/abs/2601.10140

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