Energetic properties of nio surface examined by heat-of-adsorption measurement

Heat of adsorption and isotherm of water vapor on NiO samples were measured simultaneously at 301 K to examine the energetic properties of the surface. They revealed that NiO has a relatively uniform surface. The heat of adsorption ranging 80–90 kJ·mol^–1 indicates the production of surface hydroxyl groups on the (100) plane of NiO. It is relatively small compared with that of other metal oxides, which suggests a weak nature of the Ni²⁺ ion sites for chemisorption of water. It is suspected that half of the surface Ni²⁺ ions are covered with hydroxyl groups and the remainings act as relatively strong physisorption sites for water molecules.The authors are grateful for the help of Prof. S. Kittaka of Okayama University of Science in taking electron micrographs. This work was partly supported by Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research No. 02640348 from the Ministry of Education, Science and Culture of Japanese Government.