XPS Studies of Oxygen Adsorption on Polycrystalline Nickel Surface (II)

The isotherms of oxygen chemisorption on polycrystaline nickel surface are obtained at various temperatures between 298K and 523K from intensity measurernent of O 1s xps peaks, and the activation energy of the chemisorption is estimated as a function of the coverage. The activation energy extrapolated to zero coverage is found to be -5.9 kJ/mol. The negative activation energy can be taken as a strong implication of the propriety of a currently accepted chemisorption model, in which molecularly adsorbed precursor state is assumed to exist. The residence time of this precursor state is estimated by assuming a molecularly physisorbed state for the precursor state and assuming a pairwise interaction energy of Lennard-Jones 12-6 potential between an admolecule and each substrate nickel atom. The sticking coefficients are also calculated from the isotherms. The calculated results agree well with those obtained by others with different methods.