Surface chemistry of metastable oxygen. II. Destruction of O2(a 1Δg)

Abstract

The loss rate O₂(a ¹Δ_g) on a variety of surfaces has been investigated. At 300 K, the most rapid deactivants are Cu, Ag, and Co, with Fe, Ni, Pt, and Pd being somewhat less active. Numerous metals exhibit very low activity, including Al, Au, and W. Quite different temperature dependences were observed among the metals, with the activity of Ag decreasing markedly with increasing temperature over the range 220–470 K, that of Ni increasing, and that of Pd showing little change. The loss‐rate–temperature profiles of Fe, Co, and Ni are similar, paralleling the behavior observed in a separate study on these three metals for higher‐lying electronically excited states O₂.