Synthesis and Properties of Nanostructured Tungsten Oxide on Au(111)

WO3 nanostructures have been synthesized on Au(111) through the solution-processing method. Three types of structures have been obtained: reticulated polymeric structures, two dimensional WO3 (111), and three-dimensional islands. Their electronic properties have been probed by scanning tunneling spectroscopy. The reticulated structure has a featureless spectrum. WO3 (111) shows n-type semiconducting properties with resonances corresponding to surface states arising from W 5d states. These oxide nanostructures efficiently decouple the electronic states of molecular adsorbates from the metal substrate.