Adsorption and decomposition of hexamethyldisiloxane on platinum: an XPS, UPS and TDS study

We have studied with XPS, UPS and TDS, in UHV conditions, the adsorption of HMDS on various platinum surfaces and different temperatures. At low temperature, a multilayer is formed which desorbs at 150 K, leaving on the surface an undistorted monolayer. With temperature increase, several products appear in the gas phase (methane, lighter organodisiloxanes and hydrogen) leaving on the surface methyl radicals that undergo progressive dehydrogenation leading to the formation of amorphous carbon and graphitization at above 700 K. The carbon residue is readily removed by an oxygen treatment at moderate temperatures. Almost no silicon or oxygen remain on the surface above 300 K, a result which cannot explain the poisoning effect of HMDS on platinum sensors used to detect methane in coal mines. It shows that the low pressure mechanism differs from the ambient pressure mechanism. Differences are possibly due to the presence of oxygen at ambient pressures and deserve further investigations.