Surface concentration pressures adsorption

The Langmuir-Hinshelwood picture is essentially that of Fig. XVIII-14. If the process is unimolecular, the species meanders around on the surface until it receives the activation energy to go over to product(s), which then desorb. If the process is bimolecular, two species diffuse around until a reactive encounter occurs. The reaction will be diffusion controlled if it occurs on every encounter (see Ref. 211) the theory of surface diffusional encounters has been treated (see Ref. 212) the subject may also be approached by means of Monte Carlo/molecular dynamics techniques [213]. In the case of activated bimolecular reactions, however, there will in general be many encounters before the reactive one, and the rate law for the surface reaction is generally written by analogy to the mass action law for solutions. That is, for a bimolecular process, the rate is taken to be proportional to the product of the two surface concentrations. It is interesting, however, that essentially the same rate law is obtained if the adsorption is strictly localized and species react only if they happen to adsorb on adjacent sites (note Ref. 214). (The apparent rate law, that is, the rate law in terms of gas pressures, depends on the form of the adsorption isotherm, as discussed in the next section.)... 

The course of a surface reaction can in principle be followed directly with the use of various surface spectroscopic techniques plus equipment allowing the rapid transfer of the surface from reaction to high-vacuum conditions see Campbell [232]. More often, however, the experimental observables are the changes with time of the concentrations of reactants and products in the gas phase. The rate law in terms of surface concentrations might be called the true rate law and the one analogous to that for a homogeneous system. What is observed, however, is an apparent rate law giving the dependence of the rate on the various gas pressures. The true and the apparent rate laws can be related if one assumes that adsorption equilibrium is rapid compared to the surface reaction. 

Langmuir s research on how oxygen gas deteriorated the tungsten filaments of light bulbs led to a theory of adsorption that relates the surface concentration of a gas to its pressure above the surface (1915). This, together with Taylor s concept of active sites on the surface of a catalyst, enabled Hinshelwood in around 1927 to formulate the Langmuir-Hinshelwood kinetics that we still use today to describe catalytic reactions. Indeed, research in catalysis was synonymous with kinetic analysis... 

During the studies of adsorption-caused response in a and p by donor particles we monitored both kinetics of the change in above characteristics and dependence of their stationary values on concentration of adsorption particles. The partial pressure in gaseous phase (and in case of atom particles the time of treatment of the surface of adsorbent by the flux of above particles) used to be the measure of the quantity of absorbed particles during adsorption of molecular particles. 

Fig. 20.1. Correlation between the air/water partition coefficient, Kaw, determined from measurements of the surface pressure as a function of drug concentration (Gibbs adsorption isotherm) in buffer solution (50 mM Tris/HCI, containing 114 mM NaCI) at pH 8.0 and the inverse of the Michaelis Menten constant, Km obtained from phosphate release...

The second most apparent limitation on studies of surface reactivity, at least as they relate to catalysis, is the pressure range in which such studies are conducted. The 10 to 10 Torr pressure region commonly used is imposed by the need to prevent the adsorption of undesired molecules onto the surface and by the techniques employed to determine surface structure and composition, which require relatively long mean free paths for electrons in the vacuum. For reasons that are detailed later, however, this so-called pressure gap may not be as severe a problem as it first appears. There are many reaction systems for which the surface concentration of reactants and intermediates found on catalysts can be duplicated in surface reactivity studies by adjusting the reaction temperature. For such reactions the mechanism can be quite pressure insensitive, and surface reactivity studies will prove very useful for greater understanding of the catalytic process. 

Gibbs adsorption equation phys chem A formula for a system involving a solvent and a solute, according to which there Is an excess surface concentration of solute if the solute decreases the surface tension, and a deficient surface concentration of solute if the solute increases the surface tension. gibz ad sorp shan i.kwa-zhon Gibbs adsorption isotherm physchem An equation for the surface pressure of surface [< ... 

The study of the kinetics of exchange reactions has focused attention on the way in which the surface concentrations of various kinds of adsorbed radicals depend on the pressure of the reacting gases. Let us consider a situation where the adsorption of all species is weak i.e., the extent of the surface is large compared with the fraction covered by adsorbed species. We shall assume that the strength of the adsorption is constant, which will be true for small variations in surface coverages. It is well known that, under these conditions, the fraction of the surface covered by hydrogen... 

In heterogeneous systems, the rate expressions have to be developed on the basis of (a) a relation between the rate and concentrations of the adsorbed species involved in the rate-determining step and (b) a relation between the latter and the directly observable concentrations or partial pressures in the gas phase. In consequence, to obtain adequate kinetic rate expressions it is necessary to have a knowledge of the reaction mechanism, and an accurate means of relating gas phase and surface concentrations through appropriate adsorption isotherms. The nature and types of adsorption isotherm appropriate to chemisorption processes have been discussed in detail elsewhere [16,17] and will not be discussed further except to note that, in spite of its severe theoretical limitations, the Langmuir isotherm is almost invariably used for kinetic interpretations of surface hydrogenation reactions. The appropriate equations are... 

The problem of calculating reaction rate is as yet unsolved for almost all chemical reactions. The problem is harder for heterogeneous reactions, where so little is known of the structures and energies of intermediates. Advances in this area will come slowly, but at least the partial knowledge that exists is of value. Rates, if free from diffusion or adsorption effects, are governed by the Arrhenius equation. Rates for a particular catalyst composition are proportional to surface area. Empirical kinetic equations often describe effects of concentrations, pressure, and conversion level in a manner which is valuable for technical applications. 

If the adsorption is small, and the reaction depends upon an essentially bimolecular process among the adsorbed molecules, for example 2A —> A2 or 2A — B + C, then, since the chance that two molecules occupy adjacent positions on the surface depends upon the square of the surface concentration, the rate of reaction is proportional to the square of the gas pressure, and the reaction is kinetically bimolecular. 

Virial Isotherm Equation. No isotherm equation based on idealized physical models provides a generally valid description of experimental isotherms in gas-zeolite systems (19). Instead (6, 20, 21, 22) one may make the assumption that in any gas-sorbent mixture the sorbed fluid exerts a surface pressure (adsorption thermodynamics), a mean hydrostatic stress intensity, Ps (volume filling of micropores), or that there is an osmotic pressure, w (solution thermodynamics) and that these pressures are related to the appropriate concentrations, C, by equations of polynomial (virial) form, illustrated by Equation 3 for osmotic pressure ... 

The overall chemical rate may be written in terms of the partial pressures of A, B and P by equating the rates 9t, 0iAa and and eliminating the surface concentrations CA, CB and Cr from equations 3.68 (or 3.69 as the case may be), 3.71 and 3.72. The final equation so obtained is cumbersome and unwieldy and contains several constants which, for practical reasons, cannot be determined independently. For this reason it is convenient to consider limiting cases in which one parameter, adsorption surface reaction or desorption is rate determining. 

If the adsorption of A is the rate determining step in the sequence of adsorption, surface reaction and desorption processes, then equation 3.71 will be the appropriate equation to use for expressing the overall chemical rate. To be of use, however, it is first necessary to express CA, Cv and Cs in terms of the partial pressures of reactants and products. To do this an approximation is made it is assumed that all processes except the adsorption of A are at equilibrium. Thus the processes involving B and P are in a state of pseudo-equilibrium. The surface concentration of B can therefore be expressed in terms of an equilibrium constant KB for the adsorption-desorption equilibrium of B ... 

In general, a high order in CP (e.g. +0.87, as was found in the case of the Pt/SiC>2 [big] catalyst), indicates that the surface contains on average a very low concentration of CP by doubling the amount of CP molecules in the gasphase, the surface concentration is doubled. This can only occur if during the adsorption process the CP molecule does not encounter another CP molecule which is already adsorbed. The surface is virtually covered with atomic D (indicated by the order in D2 of-0.82 for Pt/SiC>2 [big]), and the surface concentration of D is unaffected by the CP partial pressure. The low surface concentration of CP also explains the observation that the exchange pattern of CP is unaffected by Pep for this Pt/SiC>2 [big] catalyst the surface contains only a small amount of CP and adsorbed CP molecules do not influence each other due to mutual (lateral) interactions. 

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