Morphology analysis and chemical composition were probed using SEM-EDX with Phenom ProX Scanning Electron Microscope (Phenom, Netherlands). SEM characterization was done using an acceleration voltage of 10 kV, while the chemical composition was probed with the acceleration voltage of 15 kV. XPS was used to assess the chemical speciation on the samples surfaces after the exchange with Rh. Samples were analyzed using SPECS Systems with XP50M X-ray source for Focus 500 and PHOIBOS 100/150 analyzer. AlKα source (1486.74 eV) at a 12.5 kV and 32 mA was used for this study. Survey spectra (0-1000 eV binding energy) were recorded with a constant pass energy of 40 eV, step size 0.5 eV and dwell time of 0.2s in the FAT mode. High-resolution spectra of Ni 2p and Rh 3d peaks were recorded with a constant pass energy of 20 eV, step size of 0.1 eV and dwell time of 2s in the FAT mode. Spectra were obtained at a pressure of 9×10 -9 mbar. SPECS FG15/40 electron flood gun was used for charge neutralization to minimize the effects of charging at the samples. All the peak positions were referenced to C1s at 284.8 eV. Spectra were collected by SpecsLab data analysis software supplied by the manufacturer and analyzed with a commercial CasaXPS software package.