Tailoring specific adsorption sites by alloying: adsorption of unsaturated organic molecules on alloy surfaces

Alloy surfaces can be used to control the reactivity of adsorbed molecules. We show that the adsorption of small hydrocarbons on alloy surfaces can be understood in terms of a template effect. This approach enables us to overcome the somewhat arbitrary classification of alloying effects on molecules as being due to either electronic (ligand) or geometric (ensemble) effects. By combining high-resolution electron energy loss spectroscopy and density functional theory an exact determination of the properties of the respective adsorption complex is possible.