PNNL

Abstract

It is generally recognized that developing a kinetic model for a supported catalyst is difficult since multiple site types exist. These sites can arise from a distribution of crystal facets (e.g., (100), (110), etc.) each with their unique intrinsic site types (e.g., atop, bridge, hollow, etc.). Additional complexities arise from non-basel plane site types (defect, edge, corner, etc.), all whose differing lateral interaction energies may be coverage dependent for each site pairwise interaction. To demonstrate the complexities that develop even for a greatly simplified system, we examine a multiple site kinetic model of the reaction 2NO + O2 - 2NO2 on an ideal Pt(100) catalyst. A model of the Pt(100) surface is adopted where atop, bridge, and 4-fold hollow sites are responsible for O2, NO, and NO2 chemisorption to form Pt-O, Pt-NO, and Pt-NO2 species. In our kinetic scheme, equilibrium is assumed for O2, NO, and NO2 chemisorption due to their high sticking coefficients (all > 0.1). A single rate determining step of the Langmuir-Hinshelwood type was chosen to describe the oxidation of NO on platinum via the reaction PtH,A,B-O + PtH,A,B-NO - PtH,A,B + PtH,A,B-NO2, where H, A, and B represent 4-fold hollow, atop, and bridge sites. Equal kinetic parameters for all site combinations were assumed to exist and, in part, taken from the literature to be AH+=83 kJ/mol and AS+=20 J/K mol. The exercise here is largely hypothetical but offers insight into how more detailed kinetic models may be developed, such as through the use of reaction velocity matrices, a concept introduced here. Specifically for this system, the model yielded insight into NOx chemistry on Pt(100) in that it predicted that the greatest reaction velocities (forward and reverse) occurred via the reaction Pt-O(atop) + Pt-NO(bridge) A Pt(atop) + Pt-NO2(bridge). We believe the framework of a site-specific modeling scheme presented here is an important starting point for future site-specific microkinetic modeling. In particular, a definition and description of use of surface coverages, reaction rate coefficients, and computed reaction velocity matrices are presented.