Room temperature propylene dehydrogenation and linear atomic chain formation on Ni(111)

The structures formed by propylene adsorption on Ni(111) at room temperature are determined by a combination of scanning tunneling microscopy and density functional theory. As a result of the interaction with the Ni(111) surface, propylene molecules are dehydrogenated and coupled into linear hydrocarbon chains. The length of the chains varies from 8 to 60A, with the most frequently observed length of 18A. At saturated coverage, some chains are closed in rings with a diameter of 6A. A C12H12 model is proposed for most often observed chains. We demonstrate that the possibility of combining initial propylene molecules into chains appears after dehydrogenation of the CH3 fragment.

No reviews yet.

No comments yet.