The NO + CO reaction on Pt(100)

The interaction of NO with CO and with H₂ on Pt(100) was studied by temperature programmed desorption (TPD), isothermal desorption mass spectrometry, and low energy electron diffraction (LEED), TPD of NO and CO coadsorbed at 120 K yields almost complete reaction with both N₂ and CO₂ products desorbing as sharp, simultaneous peaks at ≈ 410 K. with full widths at half maximum as narrow as 3 K. Isothermal desorption mass spectrometry yields N₂ and CO₂ rates that exhibit a maximum with time. Both experiments indicate that the reaction mechanism is autocatalytic. Annealing NO-CO adlayers formed at 120 K to temperatures above 300 K causes the subsequent N₂ and CO₂ TPD peaks to broaden.'TPD of NO coadsorbed with H₂ yields sharp N₂ and H₂O product peaks that closely resemble the N₂ and CO₂ peaks observed in the NO + CO reaction. LEED experiments during TPD and isothermal desorption showed that the (1 × 1) → hex substrate phase transformation sometimes accompanies desorption of N₂ and CO₂. The TPD and isothermal desorption results can be fit by two simple models: chemical autocatalysis, in which an intermediate chemical species participates in a “chain propagation” reaction, and structural autocatalysis, which involves the formation of a reactive intermediate structure involving Pt atom displacements.