Wet chemically prepared rutile TiO2(110) and TiO2(011): Substrate preparation for surface studies under non-UHV conditions

•A recipe for wet chemical preparation of TiO2 single crystal surfaces is presented.•Procedure is applied to both rutile-TiO2(110) and rutile-TiO2(011).•Characterisation indicates that well-defined, carbon-free surfaces can be prepared.•Wet chemical preparation of rutile-TiO2(011) results in a (4 × 1) termination.

A procedure for wet chemical preparation of TiO2 single crystal surfaces is detailed. The potential of this procedure is demonstrated through application to rutile-TiO2(110) and rutile-TiO2(011) substrates. Characterisation with atomic force microscopy, low energy electron diffraction, auger electron spectroscopy, and vibrational sum frequency spectroscopy indicates that flat, well-ordered, carbon-free surfaces can be generated. Notably, in contrast to the (2 × 1) low energy electron diffraction pattern observed for TiO2(011) prepared in ultra-high vacuum, wet chemical preparation results in a (4 × 1) unit cell; wet chemically prepared TiO2(110) displays an unreconstructed (1 × 1) surface.