Characterization of stearic acid adsorption on Ni(111) surface by experimental and first-principles study approach

Long-chain alkanoic acids usually form close-packed monolayer films with alkyl chains highly oriented on substrates. Previous studies have reported the adsorption of stearic acid on gold, aluminum, copper, silver, and aluminum oxide. However, there are no reports of stearic acid adsorption on magnetic metals. In this work, the characterization of stearic acid adsorbed on Ni(111) surface has been studied experimentally and with first-principles calculation. The results suggest that the stearic acid is chemically adsorbed on the Ni(111) surface via a bidentate interaction with a distance of about 1.8 Å. Besides this, we have also obtained results for the charge transfer and magnetic proximity effect.