Effects of vibrational modes and polarized surfaces in the resonance oscillation of a lead strontium zirconium titanate substrate upon activation of an Ag thin film catalyst

A 100 nm Ag film catalyst was deposited on either a positively or negatively polarized lead strontium zirconium titanate substrate ((+)Ag and (−)Ag, respectively). The effects of a thickness extensional (TE) and radial extensional (RE) vibration, by resonance oscillation, on the catalytic activity were studied. With the TE mode at 10 MHz, the activation energy of ethanol oxidation on (+)Ag was different from that on (−)Ag. The surface potential varied negatively for (+)Ag and positively for (−)Ag and a threshold energy for photoelectric emission from (+)Ag shifted to lower energy. With the RE mode at 80 kHz, the activation energy of ethanol oxidation was the same between the (+) and (−)Ag surface and there was little change in the surface potential and photoelectric emission behavior.