Lack of translational energy activation of the dissociative chemisorption of CO on Ni(111)

Abstract

The activation of the dissociative chemisorption of CO on Ni(111) by translational and vibrational energy is probed. Molecular beam techniques produce CO molecules with high kinetic energies and with some vibrational excitation. Thermal desorption and high resolution electron energy loss spectroscopy detect the product of the chemisorption event. The maximum translational and vibrational energies attainable in these experiments, 45 and 18 kcal/mol, respectively, are observed not to activate the dissociative chemisorption of CO. These experiments are sensitive to dissociation probabilities as small as 2×10−6 and 9×10−4 at the maximum values of translational and vibrational energy, respectively. It is concluded that translational energies greater than 45 kcal/mol do not contribute to the CO dissociation rate at high pressures. Rather, the potential energy surface of the CO–Ni(111) interaction likely requires vibrational excitation greater than the amount that can be achieved in this experiment for activation of the C 3/4 O bond.