Monte Carlo simulations of surface reactions: NO reduction by CO or H2

Abstract

The development of surface science has given an opportunity to investigate the process of heterogeneous catalysis at a molecular level. In this way there has been a great progress in understanding the mechanism in NO decomposition. Modeling has been an very important tool in this goal. In this work we analyze the reactions NO+H2 and NO+CO. The extremely narrow production peak of N2 and CO2 which occurs in the reaction of NO+CO on Pt(100), a phenomenon known as “surface explosion,” is studied using a dynamic Monte Carlo method on a square lattice at low pressure under isothermal conditions. The catalytic reduction of nitric oxide by hydrogen over a Pt surface is also studied by using a dynamic Monte Carlo. Using a Langmuir-Hinshelwod mechanism of reaction, a simplified model with only four adsorbed species (NO, H, O, and N) is constructed. The effect on NO dissociation rate, the limiting step in the whole reaction, is inhibited by coadsorbed NO and H2 molecules, and is enhanced both by the presence of empt...