An algorithm for removing charging effects from X-ray photoelectron spectra of nanoscaled non-conductive materials

Graphical abstract: - Highlights: • Algorithm for restoration of XP-spectra distorted by surface charging was developed. • Pd3d spectra of Pd/SnO₂, Pd/CeO₂–SnO₂ catalysts were successfully restored. • Algorithm performance is comparable with "hardware" charging neutralization technique. - Abstract: Inhomogeneous surface charging could lead to a distortion of X-ray photoelectron (XP) spectra, which complicates the spectra analysis and sometimes results in an incorrect interpretation of elements chemical states of the sample. The charging effects might be especially strong in the case of XPS application for the characterization of heterogeneous catalysts, which are usually based on the dielectric or semiconductor materials with complex morphology. In this paper, we propose an algorithm to restore XP spectra when distortion is caused by inhomogeneous and/or non-constant surface charging effects. A photoelectron line of a reference element can be used to eliminate the distortions from experimental spectra of other elements by an iterative deconvolution procedure. The successful application of the algorithm for the restoration of a Pd3d line shape using a reference Sn3d_5/2 line was demonstrated for the Pd/SnO₂ and Pd/CeO₂–SnO₂ catalysts