Impact of surface science on the understanding of kinetics of heterogeneous catalytic reactions

Abstract

The kinetics of chemical reactions in gas and liquid phases are usually described by employing the conventional mass-action law equations. The laws governing the kinetics of heterogeneous catalytic reactions are as a rule much more complex due to adsorbate–adsorbate lateral interactions, surface heterogeneity, spontaneous and adsorbate-induced changes in a surface, and/or limited mobility of reactants. The importance of these factors was recognized by the heterogeneous catalysis community far before the surface-science era. Only with the development of surface science, however, has it become possible to study in detail the non-ideality of rate processes on solid surfaces. In the present paper, we survey the main conceptual results currently available in this field and illustrate the impact of surface science on its development. Specifically, we outline the approaches used to describe elementary reaction steps and the whole reaction kinetics near and far from equilibrium, including such topics as kinetic phase transitions, pattern formation, kinetic oscillations and chaos, and pressure- and structure-gap problems. All these phenomena and problems are demonstrated to provide promising opportunities for further experimental and theoretical studies.