The work of this thesis comprises extensive Noncontact Atomic Force Microscopy (NC-AFM) characterization of clean metal-oxide (YSZ(100)/(111) and MgO(100)) and graphitic (HOPG) supports as templates for the novel, photochemically induced nucleation of cobalt oxide nanostructures, particularly Cobalt (III) Oxide. The nanostructure-support surfaces were also studied by X-ray Photoelectron Spectroscopy (XPS) to verify the nature of the supported cobalt oxide and to corroborate the surface topographic and phase NC-AFM data. Heteroepitaxial growth of Co2O3 nanostructures proves to exhibit a variety of different growth modes based on the structure of the support surface. On this basis, single-crystal support surfaces ranging from nonpolar to polar and atomically flat to highly defective and reactive were chosen, again, yielding numerous substrate-nanostructure interactions that could be probed by high-performance surface science techniques.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:uottawa.ca/oai:ruor.uottawa.ca:10393/23117 |
| Date | January 2012 |
| Creators | Mandia, David J. |
| Contributors | Giorgi, Javier |
| Publisher | Université d'Ottawa / University of Ottawa |
| Source Sets | Université d’Ottawa |
| Language | English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Thesis |
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