The effect of water on the formation of strongly bound oxygen on silver surfaces

Interaction of water with an oxygenated Ag(111) surface leads to an enhancement of the surface restructuring and an activated formation of hydroxyl groups (OH) located stably on the surface and incorporated in the subsurface region, as evidenced by means of reflection electron microscopy (REM) and in situ Raman spectroscopy. Dehydroxylation of OH_ads at elevated temperatures releases the strongly bound oxygen species labelled O_γ at the surface, and offers an alternative to the energetically less favorable pathway for the direct formation of the O_γ species from molecular oxygen.