PNNL

Abstract

The desorption kinetics for benzene and cyclohexane from a graphene covered Pt(111) surface were investigated using temperature programmed desorption (TPD). The benzene desorption spectra show well-resolved monolayer and multilayer desorption peaks. The benzene monolayer TPD spectra have the same desorption peak temperature and have line shapes which are consistent with first-order desorption kinetics. For benzene coverages greater than 1 ML, the TPD spectra align on a common leading edge which is consistent with zero-order desorption. An inversion analysis of the monolayer benzene TPD spectra yielded a desorption activation energy of 54 ± 3 kJ/mol with a prefactor of 1017 ± 1 s-1. The TPD spectra for cyclohexane also have well-resolved monolayer and multilayer desorption features. The desorption leading edges for the monolayer and the multilayer TPD spectra are aligned indicating zero-order desorption kinetics in both cases. An Arrhenius analysis of the monolayer cyclohexane TPD spectra yielded a desorption activation energy of 53.5 ± 2 kJ/mol with a prefactor of 1016 ± 1 ML s-1.