Chemisorption on Metals

Abstract

THE criterion for chemisorption on metals is the occurrence of an electron switch, the resulting complex having a dipole moment orientated vertically to the surface. The method of contact potentials has been employed to evaluate the magnitude of the change in work function of the surface as a result of chemisorption, and recently the vibrating condenser method has been used for the same purpose. There are some disadvantages attached to these methods. In the former, thermal radiation from the emitter may alter the composition of the chemisorbed layer on the cold surface; in the latter, the presence of a large amount of metal and the assumption that only parts of the system are affected by the introduction of the gas militate against the exact determination of the dipole-moment surface-coverage (μ, θ) relationship.