Spectroscopic characterization of catalytically active surface sites of a metallic oxide

High-resolution core-level photoelectron spectroscopy in combination with density functional theory calculations was used to identify the spectroscopic signatures of the catalytically active sites on the RuO2(1 1 0) surface, i.e., the coordinatively unsaturated Ru sites (cus-Ru) and the bridging oxygen atoms. These assignments provide the necessary spectroscopic information for in situ studies of catalytical reactions over the RuO2(1 1 0) surface.