Adsorption and Hydrogenation of Gases on Transition Metals

Abstract

Several principles are suggested which determine the location, and to some extent the behaviour, of gas atoms chemisorbed at the surface of a transition metal. With these as basis, and the published experimental evidence, the structure of adsorbed oxygen, hydrogen, ethylene, acetylene, and carbon monoxide are deduced. For a diatomic molecule three kinds of chemisorbed product are distinguished-adsorbed molecule, adsorbed atom, and adsorbed ion. Bond energies, together with solid models of surface and adsorbate, are used to arrive at the probable mechanism of the ethylene hydrogenation on nickel, and of the Fischer-Tropsch hydrocarbon synthesis.