Adsorption of ethylene on the Pt(100) surface

Clean Pt(100) surfaces with bulk-like 1×1 structure, or the stable, reconstructed 5×20 structure and held at 200 or 330 K were exposed to ethylene. Ultraviolet photoemission spectroscopy identified the nature of the adsorbed species which depends on the structure and temperature of the clean surface and the amount adsorbed. It is ethylene on the 5 × 20 structure at 200 K, a vinyl radical on the same surface at 300 K up to half a monolayer, the remainder being added as acetylene; it is acetylene on the 1 × 1 surface at 330 K and a mixture of acetylene, vinyl and ethylene on the 1 × 1 surface at 200 K. Whatever the nature of the adsorbate, the surface coverage θ increased with exposure ? as $\text{(1 ? θ = C?}{}^{\mathrm{<mtext>?</mtext><mtext>1</mtext><mtext>3</mtext>}}\text{)}$. By contrast, on a surface covered with any C₂ hydrocarbon acetylene adsorbs with Langmuir kinetics. The kinetics are explained in terms of the relationship between the attraction an approaching molecule experiences from the bare surface and its Van der Waals repulsion from preadsorbed molecules.