Alexander Graf, Mark A. Isaacs, David Morgan
ABSTRACT The oxygen, O1s core level, is diagnostic in the study of metal oxides, revealing the formation of hydroxides, carbonates and other oxygen‐containing species in X‐ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS). This insight paper gives an overview of the complexities that may be overlooked in the analysis of oxygen core‐level spectra and aims to give practitioners of the technique a reasoned approach to the assignment of oxygen speciation.