Quantitative analysis of satellite structures in XPS spectra of gold and silver

Identification of specific chemical states and local electronic environments at surfaces by X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) is often difficult because it is not straightforward to quantitatively interpret the shape and intensity of shake-up structures that originate from the photoexcitation process. Indeed the shape and intensity of measured XPS structures are strongly affected by both extrinsic excitations due to electron transport out of the surface and intrinsic excitations induced by the sudden creation of the static core hole. These processes must be taken into account to quantitatively extract, from experimental XPS, the primary excitation spectrum of the considered transition which includes all effects that are part of the initial photo-excitation process, i.e. lifetime broadening, spin–orbit coupling, and multiplet splitting. It was previously shown [N. Pauly, S. Tougaard, F. Yubero, Surf. Sci. 620 (2014) 17] that both extrinsic and intrinsic excitations could be included in an effective energy-differential inelastic electron scattering cross section for XPS which is then convoluted with the primary excitation spectrum to model the full XPS spectrum. This method can thus be applied to determine the primary excitation spectrum from any XPS spectrum. We use this approach in the present paper to determine the Au 4f and Ag 3d photoemission spectra from pure metals. We observe that characteristic energy loss features of the XPS spectra are not only due to photoelectron energy losses. We thus prove the existence of a double shake-up process characterized by a 4d → 5s/5p transition for Ag and a 5d → 6s/6p transition for Au. We finally accurately quantify the energy position and intensity of these shake-up peaks.SCOPUS: ar.jinfo:eu-repo/semantics/publishe

Identification of syntrophic acetate-oxidizing bacteria in anaerobic digesters by combined protein-based stable isotope probing and metagenomics

Inhibition of anaerobic digestion through accumulation of volatile fatty acids occasionally occurs as the result of unbalanced growth between acidogenic bacteria and methanogens. A fast recovery is a prerequisite for establishing an economical production of biogas. However, very little is known about the microorganisms facilitating this recovery. In this study, we investigated the organisms involved by a novel approach of mapping protein-stable isotope probing (protein-SIP) onto a binned metagenome. Under simulation of acetate accumulation conditions, formations of (13)C-labeled CO(2) and CH(4) were detected immediately following incubation with [U-(13)C]acetate, indicating high turnover rate of acetate. The identified (13)C-labeled peptides were mapped onto a binned metagenome for improved identification of the organisms involved. The results revealed that Methanosarcina and Methanoculleus were actively involved in acetate turnover, as were five subspecies of Clostridia. The acetate-consuming organisms affiliating with Clostridia all contained the FTFHS gene for formyltetrahydrofolate synthetase, a key enzyme for reductive acetogenesis, indicating that these organisms are possible syntrophic acetate-oxidizing (SAO) bacteria that can facilitate acetate consumption via SAO, coupled with hydrogenotrophic methanogenesis (SAO-HM). This study represents the first study applying protein-SIP for analysis of complex biogas samples, a promising method for identifying key microorganisms utilizing specific pathways