Deposition of metal clusters on single-layer graphene/Ru(0001): Factors that govern cluster growth

Fabrication of nanoclusters on a substrate is of great interest in studies of model catalysts. The key factors that govern the growth and distribution of metal on graphene have been studied by scanning tunneling microscopy (STM) based on different behaviors of five transition metals, namely Pt, Rh, Pd, Co, and Au supported on the template of a graphene moiré pattern formed on Ru(0001). Our experimental findings show that Pt and Rh form finely dispersed small clusters located at fcc sites on graphene while Pd and Co form large clusters at similar coverages. These results, coupled with previous findings that Ir forms the best finely dispersed clusters, suggest that both metal-carbon (M-C) bond strength and metal cohesive energies play significant roles in the cluster formation process and that the M-C bond strength is the most important factor that affects the morphology of clusters at the initial stages of growth. Furthermore, experimental results show Au behaves differently and forms a single-layer film on graphene, indicating other factors such as the effect of substrate metals and lattice match should also be considered. In addition, the effect of annealing Rh on graphene has been studied and its high thermal stability is rationalized in terms of a strong interaction between Rh and graphene as well as sintering via Ostwald ripening.