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God made the bulk; the surface was invented by the
devil Wolfgang Pauli
Structure of the SrTiO3 (110) 3x1 surface, showing the yellow surface TiO4 tetrahedra
as well as the titanium
atoms (grey), oxygen (red) and strontium (green). If you put your mouse in the window you can move this
image around with the mouse; right click will give more options.
Enterkin et al, A homologous series of structures on the surface of SrTiO3 (110), Nature Materials
doi:10.1038/nmat2636
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A collaboration between researchers at Northwestern University's Center for Catalysis and
scientists at Oxford University has produced a new approach for understanding surfaces,
particularly metal oxide surfaces, widely used in industry as supports for catalysts.
This knowledge of the surface layer of atoms is critical to understanding a material's overall
properties. The findings were published online Feb. 14 by the journal Nature Materials.
Using a combination of advanced experimental tools coupled with theoretical calculations, the
research team has shown how, using methods commonly taught to undergraduate chemistry students,
one can understand how atoms are arranged on a material's surface. (These methods date back to
the pioneering work of Linus Pauling and others to understand the chemical bond.)
The Nature Materials paper is titled "A homologous series of structures on the surface
of SrTiO3 (110)." The authors of the paper are James A. Enterkin (first author), Arun K.
Subramanian, Kenneth R. Poeppelmeier and Laurence D. Marks, from Northwestern, and Bruce C.
Russell and Martin R. Castell, from Oxford.
The National Science Foundation and the Northwestern University Institute for Catalysis in Energy
Processing, funded through the U.S. Department of Energy, Office of Basic Energy Science,
supported the research.
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