Chemisorption, definition

In chemical adsorption(chemisorption) definite chemical bonds are produced betw the atoms molecules on the surface of solid absorbents and the molecules or atoms of "adsorbates . Chemisorption is usually accompained by an enormous evolution of heat(of the order of tens of thousands kcal per mole) and is very difficult to reverse. As an example of chemisorption, may be cited adsorption of oxygen on incandescent tungsten or of hydrogen nitrogen by tungsten even in the cold... 

In general, it seems more reasonable to suppose that in chemisorption specific sites are involved and that therefore definite potential barriers to lateral motion should be present. The adsorption should therefore obey the statistical thermodynamics of a localized state. On the other hand, the kinetics of adsorption and of catalytic processes will depend greatly on the frequency and nature of such surface jumps as do occur. A film can be fairly mobile in this kinetic sense and yet not be expected to show any significant deviation from the configurational entropy of a localized state. 

In addition to actual synthesis tests, fresh and used catalysts were investigated extensively in order to determine the effect of steam on catalyst activity and catalyst stability. This was done by measurement of surface areas. Whereas the Brunauer-Emmett-Teller (BET) area (4) is a measure of the total surface area, the volume of chemisorbed hydrogen is a measure only of the exposed metallic nickel area and therefore should be a truer measure of the catalytically active area. The H2 chemisorption measurement data are summarized in Table III. For fresh reduced catalyst, activity was equivalent to 11.2 ml/g. When this reduced catalyst was treated with a mixture of hydrogen and steam, it lost 27% of its activity. This activity loss is definitely caused by steam since a... 

A metal cluster can be considered as a polynuclear compound which contains at least one metal-metal bond. A better definition of cluster catalysis is a reaction in which at least one site of the cluster molecule is mechanistically necessary. Theoretically, homogeneous clusters should be capable of multiple-site catalysis. Many heterogeneous catalytic reactions require multiple-site catalysis and for these reasons discrete molecular metal clusters are often proposed as models of metal surfaces in the processes of chemisorption and catalysis. The use of carbonyl clusters as catalysts for hydrogenation reactions has been the subject of a number of papers, an important question actually being whether the cluster itself is the species responsible for the hydrogenation. Often the cluster is recovered from the catalytic reaction, or is the only species spectroscopically observed under catalytic conditions. These data have been taken as evidence for cluster catalysis. 

Both cationic adsorption and anionic adsorption belong to what is called ionic adsorption. Covalent adsorption is due to the localized covalent bonding, and metallic adsorption is due to the delocalized covalent bonding. The distinction among these three modes of chemisorption, however, is not so definite that the transition from the covalent through the metallic to the ionic adsorption may not be discontinuous, but rather continuous, in the same way as the transition of the three-dimensional solid compounds between the covalent, metallic, and ionic bonding. 

Hollabaugh and Chessick (301) concluded from adsorption studies with water, m-propanol, and w-butyl chloride that the surface of rutile is covered with hydroxyl groups. After evacuation at 450°, a definite chemisorption of water vapor was observed as well as of n-propanol. The adsorption of -butyl chloride was very little influenced by the outgassing temperature of the rutile sample (90 and 450°). A type I adsorption isotherm was observed after outgassing at 450°. Apparently surface esters had formed, forming a hydrocarbonlike surface. No further vapor was physically adsorbed up to high relative pressures. 

The spectra obtained from the chemisorption of methanol onto catalyst above 100°C indicated the progressive oxidation of methoxy species to formate via dioxymethylene/HCHO and finally to CO, CO2, and H2. Phenol adsorbed on the surface Lewis acid-base pair site and dissociated to phenolate anion and proton. The formation of phenolate anion and proton were discerned from the strong intense C-0 stretching vibration and the disappearence of phenolic 0-H stretching vibration, respectively. Importantly, there were series of definite low intensity bands between 2050 and 1780 cm" that were identified as the out-of-plane aromatic C-H bending vibrations [79, 84-85]. These bending vibrations are possible only if the phenyl ring of phenol is perpendicular to the catalyst surface. 

Clearly, further work along these lines is required before any definite conclusions could be drawn regarding the nature of the chemisorption bond. 

A precise definition of chemisorption for all the observed adsorption systems is at present difficult, because the concept of chemical forces is by no means clear. Furthermore, it is difficult to decide how far the influence of strong dipole forces enters into the general phenomenon of chemisorption. Furthermore, the requirement of an activation energy cannot be considered as a positive criterion for chemisorption processes. Engell and Hauffe (16-18) have limited their theoretical considerations of the chemisorption, on a solid, to particles in the form of ions (ionosorption), and similarly this review will deal with this type of chemisorption. 

Cases of chemisorption are known in which at high coverages the net (two-dimensional lattice) of the adsorbate is not in registry with the lattice of the adsorbent. In such situations, the concept of sites of precise location and fixed number may not be applicable. Similar difficulties about the definition of sites will occur if surface reconstruction takes place upon interaction of adsorbate and adsorbent. 

A large variety of problems related to the nature of the adsorption processes have been studied by infrared spectroscopy. The most extensive and productive application of this method has been in studies of chemisorption on supported-metal samples. Spectra of physically adsorbed molecules have provided important information on the interaction of these molecules with the surface of the adsorbent. Experimental developments have reached a state where it is evident that the infrared techniques are adaptable to practically all types of samples which are of interest to catalytic chemists. Not only are the infrared techniques applicable to studies of chemisorption and physical adsorption systems but they add depth and preciseness to the definitions of these terms. 

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