Article ID Journal Published Year Pages File Type
220807 Journal of Electroanalytical Chemistry 2007 6 Pages PDF
Abstract

A bond-breaking electron transfer from a metal to a diatomic molecule is considered, with focus on the effect of the reactant’s separation from the electrode. When the reactant interacts only with a wide sp-band on the metal, the energy of activation is reduced with decreasing separation, but this effect is comparatively small and mainly caused by a decrease of the energy of reorganization. In contrast, a coupling to a narrow d-band centered near the Fermi level can lead to a drastic reduction of the activation energy, which is caused by a splitting of the molecule’s antibonding orbital as the system passes the saddle point.

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Physical Sciences and Engineering Chemical Engineering Chemical Engineering (General)
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