The H2-O2 reaction on palladium studied over a large pressure range : Independence of the microscopic sticking coefficients on surface condition

• We have studied the H2---O2 reaction on Pd over a large pressure range by letting the reaction take place on the Pd gate of a Pd-MOS structure. By measuring shifts in the capacitance versus voltage (C(V)) curve of the structure, the variation of the “free” hydrogen atom concentration can be monitored during the reaction. By combining these results with surface potential measurements and with photoelectron spectroscopy, we find a critical ratio of 0.4 where the surface turns from being oxygen dominated to being hydrogen dominated. The critical ratio is independent of the absolute pressures and of surface condition and shows no significant temperature dependence in the temperature range 50–200°C. This implies that hydrogen and oxygen have similar sticking coefficients at both clean and technical Pd surfaces. The conclusion is drawn that hydrogen (and oxygen) dissociation on Pd is a property of the Pd atom or cluster of Pd atoms and is not critically dependent on any long-range order parameter such as the surface electronic density of states.

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NATURVETENSKAP  -- Fysik (hsv//swe)

NATURAL SCIENCES  -- Physical Sciences (hsv//eng)

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Physics

Fysik

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