Critical examination of the use of x-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) O 1s to characterize oxygen vacancies in catalytic materials and beyond

In 2021, Idriss published a manuscript outlining that an assignment commonly utilized in catalyst research is not feasible. Despite this, the idea that you can measure oxygen vacancies (OV) with ex situ x-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) persists. A review of 427 manuscripts citing Idriss’s work found that for the citations related to catalysis (55%), those with an interest in OV were more likely to avoid using XPS to identify OV. Regardless, many catalysis researchers continue to rely on erroneous application of XPS data. Of the citations not related to catalysis research (45%), these were more likely to utilize the more obscure approaches. Surprisingly, two thirds of the citations showed no apparent…

• CS
  Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation
• EA
  Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council

  Awards: EP/Y023587/1, EP/Y023536/1, EP/Y023552/1, EP/Y023609/1, EP/Y023544/1