Chemical Adsorption at Nanowires

GERMÁN JOSÉ SOLDANO; PAOLA QUAINO; ELIZABETH SANTOS; WOLFGANG SCHMICKLER

Benedikbeuern

Simposio; 11th International Fischer-Symposium on Microscopy in Electrochemistry; 2009

Cu and Au wires show integral conductance at potentials higher than the potential of the hydrogen evolution region (φHER ). However, at potentials below φHER , Cu and Au exhibit fractional conductance. On the other hand, this conductance dependency on the potential is not observed on Ag wires, for which the conductance is always integral. The authors ascribed this phenomenon to the adsorption of hydrogen. There is, however, a problem with this idea: at least on the planar surfaces of the three coin metals, hydrogen does not adsorb. Is the adsorption of hydrogen favorable on nanowires?