Comparison of electronic structures of RuO2 and IrO2 nanorods investigated by x-ray absorption and scanning photoelectron microscopy

Electronic structures of the nanorods of RuO2 and IrO2 metallic oxides were investigated by x-ray absorption near-edge structure (XANES) and scanning photoelectron microscopy (SPEM). O K-, Ru, and Ir L3-edge XANES results reveal that hybridization between O 2p and metal t2g orbitals is weaker in IrO2 than in RuO2. The enhancement of the tip-region SPEM intensities relative to those in the sidewall regions for both RuO2 and IrO2 nanorods is found to extend over a large energy range in contrast to those of carbon nanotubes and ZnO nanorods, which are confined to deep below and near the Fermi level, respectively.