Abstract
Publisher Summary When a gas is adsorbed at a metal surface, the observed change in work function is brought about by electronic interaction between the metal and the adsorbate. The presence of adsorbates modifies the potential barrier at the metal surface and this may lead to the adsorption of positive or negative ions. This chapter discusses the metal surface and the influence of adsorbates on the surface properties, the experimental determination of the work function, and the interpretation and the application of the work function data. The chapter presents the definition of the work function for a clean metal surface and describes the effect of a surface dipole layer arising from the presence of an adsorbate. The chapter discusses the preparation of clean metal surfaces, the measurement of work function changes, and the nature of the results obtained. The work function change is discussed in the chapter in terms of current adsorption theory with particular reference to bond formation in van der Waal's and chemisorption phenomena. The application of work function measurements in the determination of the activation energies of desorption and surface migration and the use of work function data in the computation of heats of adsorption are also discussed in the chapter.
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