Kinetic oscillations in the NO + CO reaction on Pt(100): Experiments and mathematical modeling

You are logged in to this journal.

The reaction of NO and CO on Pt(100) exhibits two branches of steady state production of N₂ and CO₂ and the occurrence of kinetic oscillations. This system was studied under steady flow conditions in the 10⁻⁶ mbar total pressure range using low-energy electron diffraction-(LEED), work function measurement, and mass spectrometry for determination of the reaction rate. These studies revealed that kinetic oscillations can only be initiated from one of the two stable reaction branches. Two separate existence regions were detected in which the oscillations are always damped. Oscillations can be very reproducibly excited by slight decreases in temperature. The 1×1hex phase transition of the surface structure was observed to take place only in one of the two regions of reaction rate oscillations. Its influence seems to be of minor relevance to the mechanism of oscillations as oscillations in one region occur on the surface that maintains a 1×1 structure. The experiments were modeled by a set of coupled differential equations based on knowledge about the elementary reaction steps. The model calculations reproduced the steady states of the reaction as well as the occurrence of kinetic oscillations in different ranges in excellent agreement with experimental observation. In the model, the phase transition also has no relevance for the oscillation mechanism. The occurrence of oscillations can be rationalized in terms of a periodic sequence of autocatalytic ``surface explosions'' and the restoration of an adsorbate-covered surface. The damping, experimentally observed, is attributed to insufficient spatial coupling between different regions of the surface. The Journal of Chemical Physics is copyrighted by The American Institute of Physics.