Adsorption of Ethyl Ether on Graphene/Silicon – Theory and Experiment

T. Stach 1, Md Arif Uddin 1, Uwe Burghaus 1, Trung T. Pham 2, Robert Sporken 2, Abdolvahab Seif 3, Alberto Ambrosetti 3, Pier Luigi Silvestrelli 3

1) Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, North Dakota State University (NDSU), 1311 Albrecht Blvd, Sugihara Hall, Fargo, ND, 58102, USA, uwe.burghaus@ndsu.edu
2) Département de physique, Namur Research Institute for Structured Matter, Université de Namur (UNamur), Rue de Bruxelles 61 - 5000 Namur, Belgium
3) Dipartimento di Fisica e Astronomia, Universit di Padova, Via Marzolo 8, 35131, Padova, Italy

Surface Science, in press

https://authors.elsevier.com/sd/article/S0039-6028(25)00115-3
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.susc.2025.122808
ISSN 0039-6028

Abstract: Adsorption of ethyl ether, CH3CH2–O–CH2CH3 (or C4H10O or (CH3CH2)2O), on graphene/Si(111) (hereafter Gr/Si(111)) was characterized by kinetics (multi-mass thermal desorption spectroscopy (TDS), steady-state rate measurements) and spectroscopic (Auger electron spectroscopy (AES), X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), Raman) techniques as well as by density functional theory calculations (DFT) as a potential metal-free catalyst. TDS results agree with the expected fragmentation pattern of molecular ethyl ether. AES and XPS spectra collected after ethyl ether adsorption are identical with data for pristine Gr/Si(111). Therefore, ethyl ether adsorbs molecularly, consistent with large activation energies for dissociation calculated by the DFT.

Keywords: Catalysis; Graphene; carbon catalysts; kinetics; spectroscopy; DFT

Adsorption of small sulfur compounds (H2S and SO2) on SiO2 supported graphene – the quest for a metal free catalyst – experiment and theory,
J. Phys. Chem. C, in press,
by T. Stach, Abdolvahab Seif, Alberto Ambrosetti, Pier Luigi Silvestrelli, U. Burghaus

Graphene as a Metal-Free Catalyst—Recent Case Studies, Chapter 6 in NanoCarbon: A Wonder Material for Energy Applications, Volume 1: Basics to Advanced Applications for Energy Production
Springer Nature Singapore Pte Ltd., Edited by Ram K. Gupta
by T. Stach (NDSU), Abdolvahab Seif (Padova), U. Burghaus (NDSU)
ISBN978-981-99-9934-7
https://link.springer.com/chapter/10.1007/978-981-99-9935-4_6

H2S decomposition on graphene in ultra-high vacuum – experiment and theory,
JVST A, in press
by T. Stach (NDSU), Abdolvahab Seif (Italy), Alberto Ambrosetti (Italy),
Pier Luigi Silvestrelli (Italy), U. Burghaus (NDSU)

Unexpected high binding energy of CO2 on CH3NH3PbI3 lead-halide organic-inorganic perovskites via bicarbonate formation,
Chemical Communications, 2018, 54, 9949 - 9952
M. T. Nayakasinghe, Y. Han, N. Sivapragasam, D. Kilin, and U. Burghaus
DOI: 10.1039/C8CC04749A
http://dx.doi.org/10.1039/C8CC04749A

--> local / NDSU collaboration

METAL NANOPARTICLE DEPOSITED INORGANIC NANOSTRUCTURE HYBRIDS, USES THEREOF AND PROCESSES FOR THEIR PREPARATION,
US Patent application  #61/619,080, submitted in 2012,
Accepted January 26, 2016 under US Patent Number 9242231
by R. Tenne, Y. Tsverin, U. Burghaus, Mallikharjuna Rao Komarneni

-->Weizmann Inst, Israel

Reactivity and Morphology of Ni, Mo, and Ni-Mo Oxide Clusters Supported on MCM-48 Towards Thiophene Hydrodesulphurization,
Surface Review and Letters 21 (2014) 1450060
by Catherine Bartholomew, Ashish Chakradhar, and Uwe Burghaus,
Chia-Ming Wu, Rui Peng, Srujan Mishra, and Ranjit T. Koodali

--> South Dakota

Benzene adsorption on Ru(0001) and graphene/Ru(0001) — How to synthesize epitaxial graphene without STM or LEED?,
Chemical Physics Letters, 590 (2013) 146 - 152,
by A. Chakradhar, K.M. Trettel,* and U. Burghaus

--> NSF REU fellow

Shan, J., Chakradhar, A., Komarneni, M., Kadossov, E., Schmidt, J., Burghaus, U., Rosenmann, D., Ocola, L. E., Dhuey, S. Cabrini, S., "Butane adsorption on silica supported MoOx clusters nanofabricated by electron beam lithography" in Nanotechnology for Sustainable Energy, ACS Book Series, printed by Oxford University Press, Y.H. Hu, U. Burghaus, S. Qiao (Eds.) ISBN 978-0-8412-2813-9, (2013)

--> Argonne national lab.
--> Berkeley Molecular Foundry

Characterization of Ni coated WS2 nanotubes for hydrodesulfurization catalysis,
Israel Journal of Chemistry, 52 (2012) 1053 -1062
by Mallikharjuna Rao Komarneni, Z.Yu, U. Burghaus
Yulia Tsverina, A. Zak, Yishay Feldman, Reshef Tenne

-->Weizmann Inst, Israel

Catalytic decomposition of thiophene by WS2 nanotubes coated with Co nanoparticles,
Materials Research Bulletin, 47 (2012), 1653-1660
by Y. Tsverin, R. Popovitz-Biro, Y. Feldman, R. Tenne,
M. Komarneni, Z. Yu, A. Chakradhar, A. Sand, U. Burghaus
-->Weizmann Inst, Israel

Adsorption dynamics of CO on silica supported CuOx clusters –
utilizing electron beam lithography to study methanol synthesis model systems,
Journal of Physical Chemistry C, 116 (2012) 5792–5801
by M. Komarneni, J. Shan, A. Chakradhar, E. Kadossov, S. Cabrini, U. Burghaus
--> Berkeley Molecular Foundry

Preparation and Characterization of Nanomaterials for Sustainable Energy Production
ACS Nano 4 (2010) 5517-5526
by Chang-jun Liu, Uwe Burghaus, Flemming Besenbacher and Zhong Lin Wang
(Tianjin University, China; NDSU, USA; iNANO, Denmark; Georgia Tech, USA)

--> Denmark & USA & China

Unexpected adsorption of oxygen on TiO2 nanotube arrays - influence of crystal structure,
Nano Letters 7 (2007) 1091-1094
by S. Funk, B. Hokkanen,  U. Burghaus (NDSU)
A. Ghicov, P. Schmuki (Erlangen-Nuernberg University, Germany)

--> Germany, Erlangen-Nuernberg University