AVS 58th Annual International Symposium and Exhibition
    Surface Science Division Thursday Sessions
       Session SS-ThM

Paper SS-ThM1
Bond Activation of Alkanes on CaO(100)

Thursday, November 3, 2011, 8:00 am, Room 107

Session: Oxide Surface Structure & Reactivity
Presenter: Ashish Chakradhar, North Dakota State University
Authors: A. Chakradhar, North Dakota State University
U. Burghaus, North Dakota State University
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The molecular and dissociative adsorption kinetics, respectively, of ethane, butane, pentane, and hexane are studied on CaO(100) using thermal desorption spectroscopy (TDS) and Auger electron spectroscopy (AES). After adsorption/desorption cycles, AES scans show no carbon residuals on the surface. Molecular adsorption as well as bond breaking is observed for all alkanes studied, except for ethane. Molecular desorption of these alkanes is characterized by two TDS peaks while recording the parent mass. These two features are assigned to different adsorption sites/configurations of the alkanes. In addition, the binding energies of the bound alkanes, based on their desorption temperatures, are calculated by using Redhead equation. The bond activation is evident from desorption of hydrogen and mostly methane and ethylene fragments in multi-mass TDS experiments. Bond activation of hydrocarbons is pertinent for the petroleum industry, providing transportation fuels and other petrochemical products.