Zero coverage thermodynamic functions

Table 10.4 lists the rate parameters for the elementary steps of the CO + NO reaction in the limit of zero coverage. Parameters such as those listed in Tab. 10.4 form the highly desirable input for modeling overall reaction mechanisms. In addition, elementary rate parameters can be compared to calculations on the basis of the theories outlined in Chapters 3 and 6. In this way the kinetic parameters of elementary reaction steps provide, through spectroscopy and computational chemistry, a link between the intramolecular properties of adsorbed reactants and their reactivity Statistical thermodynamics furnishes the theoretical framework to describe how equilibrium constants and reaction rate constants depend on the partition functions of vibration and rotation. Thus, spectroscopy studies of adsorbed reactants and intermediates provide the input for computing equilibrium constants, while calculations on the transition states of reaction pathways, starting from structurally, electronically and vibrationally well-characterized ground states, enable the prediction of kinetic parameters. 

Here, AH(A-B) is the partial molar net adsorption enthalpy associated with the transformation of 1 mol of the pure metal A in its standard state into the state of zero coverage on the surface of the electrode material B, ASVjbr is the difference in the vibrational entropies in the above states, n is the number of electrons involved in the electrode process, F the Faraday constant, and Am the surface of 1 mol of A as a mono layer on the electrode metal B [70]. For the calculation of the thermodynamic functions in (12), a number of models were used in [70] and calculations were performed for Ni-, Cu-, Pd-, Ag-, Pt-, and Au-electrodes and the micro components Hg, Tl, Pb, Bi, and Po, confirming the decisive influence of the choice of the electrode material on the deposition potential. For Pd and Pt, particularly large, positive values of E5o% were calculated, larger than the standard electrode potentials tabulated for these elements. This makes these electrode materials the prime choice for practical applications. An application of the same model to the superheavy elements still needs to be done, but one can anticipate that the preference for Pd and Pt will persist. The latter are metals in which, due to the formation of the metallic bond, almost or completely filled d orbitals are broken up, such that these metals tend in an extreme way towards the formation of intermetallic compounds with sp-metals. The perspective is to make use of the Pd or Pt in form of a tape on which the tracer activities are electrodeposited and the deposition zone is subsequently stepped between pairs of Si detectors for a-spectroscopy and SF measurements. 

Zero Coverage. Inverse gas chromatography has been used successfully In the past decade for studying the surface properties of solids by adsorption of vapour at a gas-solid Interface. Unlike conventional adsorption techniques, IGC allows the measurement of adsorption data down to low vapour concentrations where the surface coverage approaches zero, adsorbate-adsorbate Interactions are negligible, and thermodynamic functions depend on only adsorbate-adsorbent Interactions. 

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