Everything about Surface Science totally explained
Surface science is the study of
physical and
chemical phenomena that occur at the
interface of two
phases, including
solid-
liquid interfaces, solid-
gas interfaces, solid-
vacuum interfaces, and liquid-gas interfaces. It includes the fields of
surface chemistry and
surface physics.. Some related practical applications are classed as
surface engineering. The science encompasses concepts such as
heterogeneous catalysis,
semiconductor device fabrication,
fuel cells,
self-assembled monolayers and
adhesives.
Surface science is closely related with
Interface and Colloid Science. Interfacial chemistry and physics are common subjects for both. Methods are different. In addition,
Interface and Colloid Science studies
macroscopic phenomena that occur in
heterogeneous systems due to peculiarities of
interfaces.
History
The field of surface chemistry started with
heterogeneous catalysis pioneered by
Paul Sabatier on
hydrogenation and
Fritz Haber on the
Haber process.
Irving Langmuir was also one of the founders of this field, and the scientific journal,
Langmuir, on surface science bears his name. The
Langmuir adsorption equation is used to model monolayer adsorption where all surface adsorption sites have the same affinity for the adsorbing species.
Gerhard Ertl in 1974 described for the first time the adsorption of
hydrogen on a
palladium surface using a novel technique called
LEED. Similar studies with
platinum,
nickel followed. Most recent developments in surface sciences include the 2007 Nobel Prize of Chemistry winner Gerhard Ertl's advancements in surface chemistry, specifically
his investigation of the interaction between carbon monoxide molecules and platinum surfaces.
Surface chemistry
Surface chemistry can be roughly defined as the study of chemical reactions at interfaces. It is closely related to
surface functionalization, which aims at modifying the chemical composition of a surface by incorporation of selected elements or functional groups that produce various desired effects or improvements in the properties of the surface or interface. Surface chemistry also overlaps with
electrochemistry. Surface science is of particular importance to the field of heterogeneous
catalysis.
The adhesion of gas or liquid molecules to the surface is known as
adsorption. This can be due to either
chemisorption or by
physisorption. These too are included in surface chemistry.
The behaviour of a solution based interface is affected by the surface charge, dipoles, energies and their distribution within the
electrical double layer.
Surface physics
Surface physics can be roughly defined as the study of physical changes that occur at interfaces. It overlaps with surface chemistry. Some of the things investigated by surface physics include
surface diffusion,
surface reconstruction, surface
phonons and
plasmons,
epitaxy and
Surface enhanced Raman scattering, the emission and
tunneling of electrons,
spintronics, and the self-assembly of
nanostructures on surfaces.
Analysis techniques
The study and analysis of surfaces involves both physical and chemical analysis techniques.
Several modern methods probe the topmost 1-10 nm of the of
surfaces exposed to vacuum. These include
X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy,
Auger electron spectroscopy,
low-energy electron diffraction,
electron energy loss spectroscopy,
thermal desorption spectroscopy,
ion scattering spectroscopy,
secondary ion mass spectrometry, and other surface analysis methods included in the
list of materials analysis methods.
These purely optical techniques can be used to study interfaces under a wide variety of conditions. Reflection-Absorption Infrared,
Surface Enhanced Raman and
Sum Frequency Generation spectroscopies can be used to probe solid-vacuum as well as solid-gas, solid-liquid, and liquid-gas surfaces.
Modern physical analysis methods include
scanning-tunneling microscopy (STM) and a family of methods descended from it. Two of these are
atomic force microscopy (AFM) and
SPM. These microscopies have considerably increased the ability and desire of surface scientists to measure the physical structure of many surfaces. This increase is related to a more general interest in
nanotechnology.
Further Information
Get more info on 'Surface Science'.
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