Molecular beam experiments on model catalysts

The processes studied so far include the kinetics of adsorption and desorption involving various adsorbates and the reaction kinetics of several simple surface reactions, such as, e.g. CO oxidation, NO dissociation, NO-CO reaction and methanol oxidation. Several kinetic phenomena have been identified which are specific to supported catalyst systems. These include, e.g. the role of the support in the reaction kinetics, the role of different types of adsorption and reaction sites on small active particles, the interplay of these sites via surface diffusion, the surface mobility of reactants, coverage fluctuations on small particles, local differences in catalytic activity and selectivity on active particles, as well as the role of co-adsorbates under reaction conditions. Special emphasis is put on the development of realistic microkinetics models based on experimentally determined structure and kinetics.