Enhanced thermal stability and nanoparticle-mediated surface patterning: $Pt/TiO2(110)$

This letter reports (i) the enhanced thermal stability (up to $1060°C$⁠) against coarsening and/or desorption of self-assembled Pt nanoparticles synthesized by inverse micelle encapsulation and deposited on $TiO2(110)$ and (ii) the possibility of taking advantage of the strong nanoparticle/support interactions present in this system to create patterned surfaces at the nanoscale. Following our approach, $TiO2$ nanostripes with tunable width, orientation, and uniform arrangement over large surface areas were produced.