Adsorption of ethyl ether on graphene/silicon – Theory and experiment

Adsorption of ethyl ether, CH3CH2–O–CH2CH3 (or C4H10O or (CH3CH2)2O), on graphene/Si(111) (hereafter Gr/Si(111)) was characterized by kinetics (multi-mass thermal desorption spectroscopy (TDS), steady-state rate measurements) and spectroscopic (Auger electron spectroscopy (AES), X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), Raman spectroscopy) techniques as well as by density functional theory calculations (DFT) as a potential metal-free catalyst. TDS results agree with the expected fragmentation pattern of molecular ethyl ether. AES and XPS spectra collected after ethyl ether adsorption are identical with data for pristine Gr/Si(111). Therefore, ethyl ether adsorbs molecularly, consistent with large activation energies for dissociation calculated by the DFT.