Adsorption of 3,4-ethylenedioxythiophene (EDOT) on noble metal surfaces: a photoemission and x-ray absorption study

The adsorption of 3,4-ethylenedioxythiophene (EDOT) on Au and Pt surfaces is studied by core level and valence band photoemission using synchrotron radiation and by near edgeX-ray absorption spectroscopy.To closer simulate real applications, the films are grown from aqueous solution at room temperature and are compared to an ‘ideal’ film prepared by dosing the molecules from the vapour phase on a clean Au(1 1 1) single crystal. The S 2p, C 1s and O 1s levels show multiple components which are associatedto molecular fragmentation. NEXAFS confirms that fragmentation takes place at the surface. Thiophene species as well as alkyl chains and Sn species are identified as the most probable fragmentation products.