Adsorption of hydrogen on rhodium; Comparison with hydrogen adsorption on platinum and iridium

The adsorption of hydrogen on Rh has been studied (i) on a single crystal tip using field electron microscopy, and (ii) on a filament carrying this tip, using thermal desorption spectroscopy. The results are compared to those of other Group VIII metals. An isosteric heat of adsorption of 19 kcal/mole was found at low coverage, decreasing slightly with increasing coverage. This heat is substantially lower than that on Ru and Ir, determined by the same method. The work function increases by 0.4 eV, a value comparable to data reported for Ni and Ru, but significantly larger than those of Ir and Pt. An electropositive state of hydrogen as observed for Pt and Ir was not found for Rh. A small fraction of the adsorbed hydrogen is not desorbed at temperatures where other transition metal surfaces are completely denuded. This β₂-hydrogen which is desorbed only at 600–800 K, is tentatively assigned to a subsurface species.