Atomic hydrogen adsorption on thin discontinuous Au films (nanostructures) and on continuous thin Au films was studied by means of TDMS (thermal desorption mass spectrometry). The surface topography of thin Au films was determined by means of AFM (atomic force microscopy). Thermal desorption (TD) spectra for hydrogen deposit similar for both cases were registered. However, at low coverage (theta < 0.01), atomic hydrogen is somewhat more strongly bound on discontinuous nanostructured thin Au films. (C) 1997 Elsevier Science Ltd.