The reaction of oxygen with rhenium

Abstract

The sticking probability of oxygen on a clean rhenium filament was 0.3 both at 298 and 1000 °K. At the lower temperature, the shape of the sticking probability curve has been attributed to the formation of a short-lived precursor to adsorption followed by chemisorption onto adjacent pairs of sites in an immobile layer. The catalysis of the isotope exchange reaction 36 O 2 + 32 O 2 = 2 34 O 2 , at rhenium filament temperatures between 1000°K and 2100°K was attributed to the desorption from the filament of oxygen atoms which reacted at the walls of the apparatus.