The adsorption and dissociation of NO on a Rh(110) surface in the temperature range from 100 to 300 K has been studied by means of high-resolution electron energy loss (HREEL) spectroscopy. At 100 K only one adsorption state of NO, assigned to bridge-bonded NO species, is observed at the whole NO coverage range. The NO stretching frequency of this species increases from 1560 to 1710 cm−1 with increasing NO coverage. NO decomposition, which occurs readily at temperatures above 170 K has been studied for NO coverages less than 0.3 of the saturated NO coverage at 100 K. The HREELS data have shown that the fraction of NO molecules which undergo dissociation increases with increasing temperature and with decreasing initial NO coverage. For the highest NO coverages considered (0.3 of saturation at 100 K) all NO molecules decompose at 240 K. A variety of loss features are observed in the HREEL spectra after decomposition of different amounts of NO. These HREEL data are explained on the basis of comparison with the HREEL spectra measured for oxygen, nitrogen and mixed oxygen and nitrogen layers on Rh(110). It has been established that the variety of loss features observed after dissociation of NO is due to different oxygen states on the surface. The observed effect of the dissociation products on the NO stretching frequencies have been discussed considering the factors that can account for the blue-shifts observed in the presence of electronegative surface modifiers.
