Single crystals fold surfaces

The addition of potassium to industrial Fe catalysts leads to an increase in activity for ammonia synthesis (N2 -I- 3H2 - 3NH3) (136). This promotion effect has been the subject of considerable attention from the surface science community, particularly with regard to the coadsorption of K or K + O and N2 (136-139). Ertl and co-workers have shown that potassium addition to single-crystal Fe surfaces can lead to a 10- to 100-fold enhancement in the rate of dissociative N2 adsorption, which is thought to be the rate-determining step in NH3 synthesis (136-139). However, Bare et al. (140) were unable to promote the activity of Fe(l 11), (100), or (110) surfaces for this reaction at 20-atm pressure with either K, K + O, or K + AlO, addition. They interpreted this result to indicate that the promotional role of K in industrial catalysis may be cooperation with other promoters, such as the support material, to cause structural rather than electronic promotion. These results were for very low conversions, however, so that the product (NH3) partial pressure was low. Strongin and... 

The addition of potassium to Fe single crystals also enliances the activity for ammonia synthesis. Figure A3.10.19 shows the effect of surface potassium concentration on the N2 sticking coefficient. There is nearly a 300-fold increase in the sticking coefficient as the potassium concentration reaches -1.5 x 10 K atoms cm ... 

Amines can also swell the polymer, lea ding to very rapid reactions. Pyridine, for example, would be a fairly good solvent for a VDC copolymer if it did not attack the polymer chemically. However, when pyridine is part of a solvent mixture that does not dissolve the polymer, pyridine does not penetrate into the polymer phase (108). Studies of single crystals indicate that pyridine removes hydrogen chloride only from the surface. Kinetic studies and product characterizations suggest that the reaction of two units in each chain-fold can easily take place further reaction is greatiy retarded either by the inabiUty of pyridine to diffuse into the crystal or by steric factors. 

The single crystal of a polymer is a lamellar structure with a thin plateletlike form, and the chain runs perpendicular to the lamella. The crystal is thinner than the polymer chain length. The chain folds back and forth on the top and bottom surfaces. Since the fold costs extra energy, this folded chain crystal (FCC) should be metastable with respect to the thermodynamically more stable extended chain crystal (ECC) without folds. 

Fig. 2.1. The crystalline model a single crystal in which molecules traverse the lamella perpendicular to the fold surface. Cilia are formed at the end of the molecules outside the crystalline core. The folds are predominantly adjacent and the loop sizes may vary...

Keller, A., E. Martuscelli, D. J. Priest, and Y. Udagawa. Fold surface of polyethylene single crystals as assessed by selective d radation studies. III. Application of the improved techniques to single crystak. J. Polymer Sci. Part A-2 9 1807-1837, 1971. 

The differences between various Ag surfaces can be distinguished by comparing their surface morphology (generally, the surface of (110) crystal is more folded than that of (111)) and other properties, such as the surface density of atoms, the PZC, and double-layer capacitance. The double-layer properties of single-crystal Ag electrodes have been studied very intensively [3, 22-27]. Selected characteristics of various Ag surfaces are compared in Table 1, which shows that the higher the surface density of atoms, the more positive PZC becomes. Furthermore, Fig. 2 exemplifies differential capacity data of those Ag surfaces. 

A particular Pt-skin single-crystal surface, the Pt3Ni (111) face, was reported to exhibit an extraordinary ORR activity after annealing and formation of the Pt skin structure [87]. This facet exceeded the activity of the Pt(lll) single-crystal surface by a factor of 10 x, while it was found to be about 90-fold more active than a state-of-the-art high surface area carbon-supported Pt electrocatalyst. The enhancement... 

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