Study of oscillations and pattern formation in the NO + CO reaction on Pt(100) surfaces through dynamic Monte Carlo simulation: toward a realistic model

Oscillations and pattern formation driven by a surface reconstruction are studied for the catalytic reduction of NO by CO on Pt(100) single-crystal surfaces through dynamic Monte Carlo simulations at low pressure and relatively high temperatures conditions. This study incorporates recent experimental evidence obtained for the same reaction on a Rh(111) surface, which modifies the reaction scheme used in previous approaches. The main consequence of such experimental evidence is that the production of N(2) occurs through two parallel mechanisms: (a) the classical N + N recombination step; (b) the formation and subsequent decay of an (N-NO) intermediate species as the fastest pathway. Moreover, different factors influencing the NO dissociation rate, the key step in the whole reaction, such as the availability of neighboring vacant sites, the formation of N-islands, and the presence of other NO and CO adsorbed species in the neighborhood, are also taken into account and their effects discussed. Sustained, modulated, irregular, and damped oscillations are observed in our analysis as well as the formation of cellular structures and turbulent patterns. The effect and the importance of each elementary reaction step on the behavior of the system are discussed.     

Kinetic oscillations in the NO+CO reaction on the Pt(100) surface: an alternative reaction mechanism

Kinetic oscillations in the catalytic reduction of NO by CO on a reconstructing Pt(100) surface are simulated by using a dynamic Monte Carlo method. The simulation is based on the HS model and takes into account an alternative reaction mechanism arising from recent experimental findings for the catalytic reduction of No on Rh(111), which replaces the classical N+N recombination step by the formation of a (N-NO)(*) intermediary species for the production of molecular nitrogen. A synchronized mechanism and spatiotemporal patterns are observed during the oscillations. Oscillations are analyzed in terms of the controlling parameters involved in the reaction mechanism. Different values of these parameters lead to sustained, attenuated, and modulated oscillations.     

Dynamic Monte Carlo simulation of the NO + CO reaction on Rh(111)

The kinetics of the catalytic reduction of NO by CO on Rh(111) surfaces was investigated by using dynamic Monte Carlo simulations. Our model takes into account recent experimental findings and introduces relevant modifications to the classical reaction scheme, including an alternative pathway to produce N2 through an (N-NO)* intermediate, the formation of atomic nitrogen islands in the adsorbed phase, and the influence of coadsorbed species on the dissociation of NO. All elementary steps are expressed as activated processes with temperature-dependent rates and realistic values dictated by experiments. Calculated steady-state phase diagrams are presented for the NO + CO reaction showing the windows for the conditions under which the reaction is viable. The model predicts variations in both production rates and adsorbate coverages with temperature consistent with experimental data. The effect of varying the individual kinetic parameters and the importance of each step in the reaction scheme were probed.     

Chemical autocatalysis in the NO + CO reaction on Pt(100)

It is shown that the reaction between NO and CO on Pt(100) is autocatalytic and probably involves a surface species which accelerates the reaction. Temperature-programmed desorption (TPD) of co-adsorbed NO and CO yields complete reaction, with N₂ and CO₂ desorbing simultaneously in sharp peaks at ≈410 K. Isothermal desorption also yields rates characteristic of chemical autocatalysis.     

Inclined N2 desorption in a steady-state NO + CO reaction on Pt(100)

The angular and velocity distributions of desorbing products N2 and CO2 were studied in a steady-state NO + CO reaction on Pt(100). From the observation of the inclined N2 desorption, a contribution of the intermediate N2O decomposition pathway was first proposed on this surface. On the other hand, CO2 desorption collimated along the surface normal.     

CO oxidation reaction on Pt(111) studied by the dynamic Monte Carlo method including lateral interactions of adsorbates

The dynamics of adsorbate structures during CO oxidation on Pt(111) surfaces and its effects on the reaction were studied by the dynamic Monte Carlo method including lateral interactions of adsorbates. The lateral interaction energies between adsorbed species were calculated by the density functional theory method. Dynamic Monte Carlo simulations were performed for the oxidation reaction over a mesoscopic scale, where the experimentally determined activation energies of elementary paths were altered by the calculated lateral interaction energies. The simulated results reproduced the characteristics of the microscopic and mesoscopic scale adsorbate structures formed during the reaction, and revealed that the complicated reaction kinetics is comprehensively explained by a single reaction path affected by the surrounding adsorbates. We also propose from the simulations that weakly adsorbed CO molecules at domain boundaries promote the island-periphery specific reaction.     

Oxygen island formation on Pt(111) studied by dynamic Monte Carlo simulation

The formation of oxygen islands on the Pt(111) surface has been studied as a function of temperature by low energy electron diffraction (LEED) experiments and dynamic Monte Carlo (DMC) simulations. By raising the temperature, the (2 x 2) LEED spot intensity increases gradually and decays after a peak at around 255 K (T(p)) with full width of half maximum of 160 K. This behavior is interpreted by DMC simulations with the kinematical LEED analysis. In the DMC simulation, an oxygen atom hops to the neighboring site via the activation barrier of the saddle point. The potential energies at initial, saddle, and final points are changed at each hopping event depending on the surrounding oxygen atoms. By comparing the observed T(p) with the simulated one, the interaction energy E of oxygen atoms on Pt(111) was determined to be 25+/-3 meV at 2a(0). The DMC simulations visualize how the oxygen islands are formed and collapse on Pt(111) with increase of the temperature and well reproduce the surface configurations observed by scanning tunneling microscopy.     

A realistic kinetic Monte Carlo simulation of the faceting of a Pt(110) surface under reaction conditions

The faceting process on Pt(110) is studied with the help of a kinetic Monte Carlo model taking into account realistic Pt-Pt, Pt-CO, and Pt-O interactions. The activation energies of the allowed atomic steps are estimated using available computational and experimental data. The model well reproduces the region in the parameter space where faceting occurs. Under kinetic instability conditions, the simulated faceted pattern forms a periodic hill and valley structure with a lateral periodicity of approximately 140-170 A, which is comparable with experimental data. The simulations reproduce the development of faceting on a realistic time scale.     

Monte Carlo simulations of the adsorption of CO2 on the MgO(100) surface

The adsorption of CO2 gas on the MgO (100) crystal surface is investigated using grand canonical Monte Carlo simulations. This allows us to obtain adsorption isotherms that can be compared with experiment, as well as to explore the possible formation of monolayers of different densities. Our model calculations agree reasonably well with the available experimental results. We find a "low-density" adsorbed monolayer where each CO2 molecule is bound to two Mg2+ ions on the MgO substrate. We also observe the formation of monolayers of higher density, where some of the CO2 molecules have rotated and tilted to expose additional binding sites. Low-temperature simulations of both the low- and high-density monolayers reveal that these states are very close in energy, with binding energies of approximately 7 kcal/mol at T=5 K. The high-density monolayer given by our model has a density that is significantly less than the reported experimental value. We discuss this discrepancy and offer suggestions for resolving it.     

Kinetic Monte Carlo study of submonolayer heteroepitaxial growth comparing Cu/Ni and Pt/Ni on Ni(100)

The surface patterns formed during submonolayer Cu/Ni and Pt/Ni heteroepitaxy upon a Ni(100) substrate have been investigated by kinetic Monte Carlo (KMC) simulations. The two-dimensional (2D) KMC simulations are based upon rate constants for a complete nearest-neighbor set of 729 uncorrelated Cu or Pt atoms and/or Ni site-to-site hopping mobilities. The rate constant activation energies are determined by classical-potential total-energy calculations using an embedded-atom method potential function from the literature. We find that diffusion of Cu atoms occurs at a faster rate and Pt atoms at a slower rate than that of Ni atoms on the flat Ni(100) surface, and the initial nucleation and growth patterns of 2D islands and the kinetic versus thermodynamic control of the growth vary as a consequence. In the temperature and deposition time regime in which we work, the Cu/Ni systems show less than random mixing, while the Pt/Ni systems show more than random mixing. The Cu/Ni system has bonding energies that result in a tendency to segregate toward subdomains of pure Ni and Cu, though kinetic effects in the epitaxy trap the development of the system at small subdomain sizes. The Pt/Ni system has bonding energies giving a tendency to intermix completely, while epitaxial kinetic effects modestly interfere with the complete mixing. The kinetically determined island morphologies under various Cu/Ni and Pt/Ni compositions and deposition rates differ substantially over time periods that are long on the deposition time scale, and therefore the island patterns can become frozen in place.     

Pt(100)/NO+CO体系随机共振的理论研究

在远离平衡的条件下,NO在Pt(100)表面进行的催化还原反应表现出化学振荡和化学多稳态等复杂的动力学行为.利用Fink等提出的反应模型,通过计算机模拟对体系的控制参量进行周期调制和随机调制,在简单双稳区以及振荡与稳态的共存区,观察到随机共振(StochasticResonance:SR)现象.     

Effect of Surface Impurities on Oscillation in NO+CO/Pt(100) Reaction System

A lattice gas model was proposed to explore the effect of inert surface impurities on the oscillation in the NO+CO reaction system on Pt(100). It was found that when the fraction of the impurities is small, the (1*1) phase resulting from the surface restructuring can form a connected phase and the system exhibits a global sustained oscillation. With the fraction of the impurities increasing, the (1*1) phase only can form many isolated patches and the spatial coherence between the local oscillators with a random phase relationship lost, and as a result, the sustained oscillation changes into a damped one. When the diffusion rate of adsorbed CO and NO increases, the synchronization between local oscillators is enhanced and the global sustained oscillation can appear again.     

Monte Carlo法模拟CO在Fe(100)表面的升温脱附

以类桥位的模型为基础,采用MonteCarlo算法,结合键级守恒-Morse势方法(BOC-MP),模拟了CO在Fe(100)表面上平躺式吸附,考虑了金属与吸附质(M-A)、吸附质与吸附质(A-A)之间的相互作用,以研究小分子在金属表面上的TPD谱图,分析了CO的解离过程和脱附过程对TPD谱图的影响,结果表明,理论模拟与实验相符.     

Kinetic Monte Carlo simulations of the interaction of oxygen with Pt(111)

The adsorption, dissociation, diffusion, and desorption of oxygen interacting with the Pt(111) surface have been studied using kinetic Monte Carlo simulations. This study has been motivated by uncertainties in the theoretical and the experimental derivations of O(2)Pt(111) reaction barriers. The simulations reproduce all known experimental data within basically one set of parameters, thus yielding microscopic insights into the elementary reaction steps occurring in the interaction of oxygen with Pt(111) and providing reliable estimates for adsorption energies and diffusion and desorption barriers. In particular, we confirm that the distance of oxygen atoms directly after dissociation is caused by ballistic hot atom motion rather than by diffusive motion. We address the equilibrium structure of oxygen atoms at high coverages. At low temperatures, chains of oxygen pairs are formed. We show that this mechanism can be explained by a lowered dissociation in the vicinity of already adsorbed atoms. Finally we discuss the role of the lateral interaction between the oxygen atoms in the oxygen desorption process.     

Adsorption of NO and CO and specific features of their interaction on the Pt(100) surface

This article presents an analytical review of the author’s results and the literature concerning the nature of species resulting from NO and CO adsorption on the unreconstructed (1 × 1) and reconstructed hexagonal (hex) Pt(100) surfaces, including specific features of the reactions between these species. At 300 K, both surfaces adsorb NO and CO mainly in their molecular states. When adsorbed on Pt(100)-1 × 1, the NO_ads and CO_ads molecules are uniformly distributed on the surface. Under the same conditions, the hexagonal surface undergoes adsorption-induced reconstruction with the formation of NO_ads/1 × 1 and CO_ads/1 × 1 islands, which are areas of the unreconstructed phase saturated with adsorbed molecules and surrounded with the adsorbate-free hex phase. In adsorption on structurally heterogeneous surfaces containing both hex and 1 × 1 areas, the 1 × 1 and hex phases are occupied in succession, the latter undergoing reconstruction into the 1 × 1 phase. The reaction between NO and CO on the unreconstructed surfaces occurs even at room temperature and results in the formation of N₂ and CO₂ in quantitative yield. On the hexagonal surface, a stable layer of adsorbed molecules as (NO_ads + CO_ads)/1 × 1 mixed islands forms under these conditions. Above 350 K, the reaction in the mixed islands is initiated by the desorption of small amounts of the initial compounds, and this is followed by rapid self-acceleration leading to a surface explosion yielding N₂, CO₂, and N₂O (minor product). These products show themselves as very narrow desorption peaks in the temperature-programmed reaction spectrum.     

Self-oscillations and chemical waves in CO oxidation on Pt and Pd: Kinetic Monte Carlo models

Theoretical studies of the spatiotemporal dynamics of CO oxidation on Pt(100) and Pd(110) single crystal surfaces have been carried out by the kinetic Monte Carlo method. For both surfaces, Monte Carlo simulation has revealed oscillations of the CO₂ formation rate and of the concentrations of adsorbed species. The oscillations are accompanied by wave processes on the model surface. Simulations have demonstrated that there is a narrow reaction zone when an oxygen wave propagates over the surface. The existence of this zone has been confirmed by experimental studies. Taking into account the anisotropy of the Pd(110) crystal has no effect on the oscillation period and amplitude, but leads to the formation of elliptic oxygen patterns on the surface. It is possible to obtain a wide variety of chemical waves (cellular and turbulent structures, spirals, rings, and strips) by varying the parameters of the computational experiment.     

Front waves in the NO + NH3 reaction on Pt{100}

In the present work, we spatially extended a brand new kinetic mechanism of the NO + NH3 reaction on Pt{100} to simulate the experimentally observed spatiotemporal traveling waves. The kinetic mechanism developed by Irurzun, Mola, and Imbihl (IMI model) improves the former model developed by Lombardo, Fink, and Imbihl (LFI model) by replacing several elementary steps to take into account experimental evidence published since the LFI model appeared. The IMI model achieves a better agreement with the experimentally observed dependence of the oscillation period on temperature. In the present work, the IMI model is extended by considering Fickean diffusion and coupling via the gas phase. Traveling waves propagating across the surface are obtained at realistic values of temperature and partial pressure. A transition from amplitude to phase waves is observed, induced either by temperature or by the gas global coupling strength. The traveling waves simulated in the present work are not associated with fixed defects, in agreement with experimental evidence of spiral centers capable of moving on the surface. Also, the IMI model adequately predicts the presence of macroscopic oscillations in the partial pressures of the reactants coexisting with front wave patterns on the surface.     

A molecular beam study of the NO + CO reaction on Pd(111) surfaces

Nitric oxide (NO) reduction with carbon monoxide (CO) on the Pd(111) surface was studied under isothermal conditions by molecular beam techniques as a function of temperature, NO:CO beam composition, and beam flux. Systematic experiments were performed under transient and steady state conditions. Displacement of adsorbed CO by NO in the transient state of the reaction was observed at temperatures between 375 and 475 K for all the NO:CO compositions studied. NO accumulation occurs on Pd(111) surface under steady state conditions, below 475 K, due to stronger chemisorption of NO. The steady state reaction rates attain a maximum at about 475 K, nearly independent of beam composition. N2 was found to be the major product of the reduction, along with a minor production of N2O. The production of N2 and N2O indicates molecular and dissociative adsorption of NO on Pd(111) at temperatures up to 525 K. Postreaction TPD measurements were performed in order to determine the nitrogen coverage under steady-state conditions. Finally, the results are discussed with respect to the rate-controlling character of the different elementary steps of the reaction system.     

Kinetic analysis of the cross reaction between dithioester and alkoxyamine by a Monte Carlo simulation

A model reaction of dithioester and alkoxyamine is proposed to probe the reversible addition–fragmentation chain transfer (RAFT) process. The kinetics of the model reaction is analyzed and compared with that of pure alkoxyamine homolysis with a Monte Carlo simulation. Although the pure alkoxyamine obeys the law of persistent radical effect, the model reaction results in higher concentration of the persistent radical during the main period of the reaction. However, for a very fast RAFT process or a very low addition rate constant, the time dependence of the persistent radical concentration is quite close to that of pure alkoxyamine. Furthermore, the cross termination between the intermediate and alkyl radicals causes a retardation effect for the model reaction when the intermediate is relatively long‐lived. The Monte Carlo simulation indicates that it is feasible to measure the individual rate constants of the RAFT process, such as the rate constant of addition, with a large excess of alkoxyamine. In addition, the special feature of the system with different leaving groups in the alkoxyamine and dithioester is also discussed. © 2006 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Polym Sci Part A: Polym Chem 45: 374–387, 2007     

An influence of pretreatment conditions on surface structure and reactivity of Pt(100) towards CO oxidation reaction

We present a combined electrochemical and in situ STM study of the surface structure of Pt(100) single crystal electrodes in dependence on the cooling atmosphere after flame annealing. The following cooling conditions were applied: Ar/H₂ and Ar/CO mixtures (reductive atmosphere), argon (inert gas) and air (oxidative atmosphere). Surface characterization by in-situ STM allows deriving direct correlations between surface structure and macroscopic electrochemical behavior of the respective platinum electrodes. We investigated the influence of defect type and density as well as long range surface order on the kinetics of the CO electro-oxidation reaction. The defect-rich Pt(100) electrodes as cooled in air or Ar, and followed by immersion in the hydrogen adsorption region display higher activities as compared to the rather smooth Pt(100)-(1 × 1) electrode cooled in an Ar/H₂-atmosphere.