The Adsorption and Decomposition of NO on a Stepped Pt(111) Surface

摘要

The adsorption and decomposition of NO on a stepped Pt(111) surface have been studied using thermal desorption spectroscopy and Auger electron spectroscopy. NO adsorbs molecularly in two different states of the terrace and the step, which are distinguishable in thermal desorption spectra. NO dissociates via a bent species at the step sites on the basis of vibrational spectrum data reported previously. The dissociation of NO is an activation process : the activation energy is estimated to be about 2 kcal/mol. Increase in the NO dissociation with adsorption temperature is explained by a process controlled by diffusion of the dissociated atomic nitrogen from the step to the terrace of the surface. In addition to NO and N2, the desorption peak of N2O is observed. We conclude that the formation of N2O is attributed to surface reaction of NO and N adsorbed on the surface.