Electrocatalysis by ad-atoms: Part VIII. Ag,Pb, Te and Tl ad-atoms for ethylene reduction

As already reported, ethylene reduction at a Pt electrode can be enhanced by ad-atoms of Cu and Hg. Another series of ad-atom species is reported, that is, Ag, Pb, Tl and Te, in which the enhancement order depends on the number of Pt sites occupied by an ad-atom. S_M. This effect originates from the difference between S_M and the number of Pt sites occupied by an ethylene molecule, which causes an increase in the number of Pt sites available for hydrogen adsorption. This increase results in the enhancement, in the order Ag>PbTl; Te which has the same S as ethylene has no enhancement effect.For the complete understanding of the function of the mixed surface in the electrocatalysis, a new concept, “catalytic domains”, parts of the mixed surface effective for the electrocatalysis, is introduced, on the assumption that the reaction rate is much higher than the rate of surface migration of the adsorbed species. Then the number of Pt sites which belong to the catalytic domain is calculated. Another concept, “reaction unit mesh”, is also introduced.     

Thermodynamics of polymeric fluids – effect of volume on the configurational entropy of chain molecules

Various conformation‐dependent properties of chain molecules have been successfully treated within the rotational isomeric state approximation. The conformation entropy is one of such properties which can be readily defined by the partition function, the sum of all possible configurations of the chain. Flexible polymers often exhibit crystallization and in some cases liquid‐crystallization as well. In these first‐order transitions, changes in the spatial arrangement of polymer chains are considered to be a major factor involved. In order to explicitly determine the conformational contribution to the melting entropy, the latent entropy observed under the isobaric condition must be corrected for the volume change. The entropy separation involves a hypothetical assumption that the volume of the isotropic fluid may be compressed to that of the solid state without affecting the configurational part of the entropy of molecules. Finally thermodynamic significance of the conformation entropy in these transitions is emphasized on the basis of the critical studies of the entropy‐volume relation of chain molecules in the liquid state.