The reaction of silver with NO/O2

Silver foil was studied by X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) and ion scattering spectroscopy (ISS) after exposure to a mixture of NO (10 mbar) and O2 (1000 mbar) at 300 K. The reaction of silver with the mixture results in the formation of a complicated `sandwichʹ structure consisting of superimposed AgNO3 and Ag2O layers on metallic silver. The surface is covered by a silver nitrate layer with a thickness of approximately 5–15 ML. Silver (I) oxide with a thickness of 20–30 ML underlies the AgNO3. This preserves the metallic silver in the bulk from further oxidation. A qualitative analysis of the surface species was carried out with reference to AgNO3, AgNO2 and Ag2O.