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Details of Grant 

EPSRC Reference: GR/J84243/01
Title: A COMBINED STM/MOLECULAR BEAM STUDY OF THE MECHANISM AND KINETICS OF SURFACE
Principal Investigator: Bowker, Professor M
Other Investigators:
Hollins, Dr P
Researcher Co-Investigators:
Project Partners:
Department: Chemistry
Organisation: University of Reading
Scheme: Standard Research (Pre-FEC)
Starts: 14 September 1994 Ends: 13 September 1997 Value (£): 301,794
EPSRC Research Topic Classifications:
Surfaces & Interfaces
EPSRC Industrial Sector Classifications:
Related Grants:
Panel History:  
Summary on Grant Application Form
The objective of the programme is to build an STM system combined with a molecular beam to study surface reactions and catalysis on metals and oxides. A major aim is to examine the relationship between macro- and micro-kinetics, the beam providing data on the former, the STM on the latter. A test example of the type of reaction we would study is CO oxidation on Rh, which involves a number of oxygen-induced surface reconstructions. We also wish to probe the transition between metallic and oxidic behaviour as we dose increasing amounts of oxygen onto a metal single crystal, comparing reactions at the atomic level with product evolution using the beam/mass spectrometer system. From previous work it is clear that dual sites (i.e., combined oxidised and non-oxidised) are important in this kind of reactivity. An example reaction here would be oxidated dehydrogenation of methanol. Field effects are significant in both STM and catalysis (promoters induce electrostatic fields on a metal); we intend to investigate this relationship by varying the STM bias voltage and examining the effects on reaction rates. Effects analogous to promotion and poisoning may be seen in this way. Finally, by making model catalysts in situ we intend to examine several phenomena important in catalysis: among these are spill-over from metal to support oxide, metal particle reconstruction and determining whether a single monolayer of a metal on an oxide can really behave like a bulk metal, as has been proposed by others.
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Organisation Website: http://www.rdg.ac.uk