THE ROLE OF STRUCTURAL CHANGES IN THE EXCITATION OF CHEMICAL WAVES IN THE SYSTEM RH(110)/NO+H-2

摘要

Previous investigations have demonstrated that the formation of chemical waves in the NO+H-2 reaction on Rh(110) involves a cyclic transformation of the surface structure via various N,O-induced reconstructions, i.e., starting form the c(2X6)-O a cycle is initiated comprising the formation of a (2X3)/(3X1)-N and a mixed c(2X4)-2O,N structure. The stability and reactivity of these structures has been investigated in titration experiments as well as under stationary reaction conditions employing LEED, work function, rate measurements, and thermal desorption spectroscopy. It was shown that the c(2X6)-O and c(2X4)-2O,N structures exhibit a low reactivity whereas the (2x1)/(2X1)-N displays only a small to moderate decrease in catalytic activity (approximate to 20%-30%) compared to the clean surface, On the basis of these results, an excitation mechanism for pulses in the NO+H-2 reaction on Rh(110) was constructed consisting of the sequence c(2X6)-O, (2X1)/(3X1)-N c(2X4)-2O,N, c(2X6)-O. (C) 1997 American Institute of Physics. [References: 36]