Influence of ferroelectric polarization on the energetics of the reaction of 2-fluoroethanol on BaTiO3

The influence of ferroelectric polarization on the reaction of 2-fluoroethanol on ferroelectric BaTiO3 thin films was characterized. 2-Fluoroethanol was found to absorb dissociatively on the BaTiO3 surface to form an alkoxide that reacts upon heating to produce acetaldehyde, ethylene, and adsorbed fluorine atoms which remain on the surface. Temperature programmed desorption (TPD) studies showed that the activation energy for the production of the acetaldehyde product was a function the orientation of the ferroelectric dipoles with an ∼4 kJ mol−1 higher value on the c+ termination relative to the c− termination.