Abstract
XPS and TDS have been jointly used to study the adsorption at low temperature (110 K) and the thermal decomposition of formic acid on a polycrystalline gold surface. When increasing progressively the temperature from 110 K, XPS measurements reveal changes in the binding energy of C 1s and O 1s lines suggesting the evolution of molecular HCOOH to a formate ion which readily decomposes to H2 and CO2 products at approximately 190 K. Additional results of the evolution of the XPS C1s and O1s lines of formic acid under the impact of a low energy electron beam (⩽ 5 eV) are presented. They suggest that the electrons help to remove the acid hydrogen of the molecule leading to the formate.
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