Neutron diffraction and inelastic scattering from adsorbed molecules

Neutron scattering measurements on the structure and dynamics of adsorbed phases at the gas solid interface have proliferated in the last five years and this paper reports some recently obtained results for the systems methane-graphite and ammonia-graphite, which show BET type I and type III isotherms respectively. These systems clearly illustrate the differences in both structure and dynamics to be expected in other examples where either wetting of the surface or non-wetting behaviour occurs upon adsorption. Evidence for phase transitions in both types of system coming from diffraction is reported, and this is substantiated by measurements using inelastic scattering to follow the molecular dynamics. The neutron inelastic scattering from molecules adsorbed on platinum black and in zeolites reveals some of the virtues of neutron inelastic scattering for the study of chemisorbed species. Finally, some preliminary experiments on neutron small angle scattering at the solid liquid interface in polystyrene latex-water sols are reported.