Chemisorption And Reactions On Metallic Films V1

Book excerpt: Chemisorption and Reactions on Metallic Films, Volume 1 is a six-chapter text that describes the role of evaporated metal films in advancing the understanding of the metal-gas interface chemistry. Chapter 1 presents electron microscopy and diffraction studies and their contributions in elucidating the growth and structure of polycrystalline and epitaxially grown films. Chapter 2 describes the techniques of preparation and characterization of metallic films and examines the heats of adsorption, electrical conductivity, surface area, and sticking probabilities of such films. Chapter 3 discusses the strength of pairwise interactions; the influence of the intermetallic bond on the equilibrium shape of metal crystallites; the bonding of individual metal atoms to different crystallographic planes; the interaction of metal atoms and crystallites with non-conducting substrates; and the effects of residual gases on this interaction. Chapters 4 and 5 address the adsorption of metallic films, with an emphasis on general trends in adsorptive and electronic properties of bulk metals. These chapters also discuss the effects of adsorption on the electrical conductance of island-like and coherent films and on the ferromagnetic properties of films. Chapter 6 evaluates the application of infrared spectroscopy to the studies of the surfaces of metal films and the use of the available infrared spectroscopic data in reconciling the results of adsorption studies on oxide-supported metal particles with those obtained with clean evaporated metal films prepared under ultra high vacuum conditions. Research scientists and graduate students who are interested in the fundamentals of adsorption and catalysis will find this volume invaluable.