Kinetics of Metal-Gas Interactions at Low Temperatures: Hydriding, Oxidation, Poisoning (Springer Series in Surface Sciences)

Kinetics of Metal-Gas Interactions at Low Temperatures is devoted to the formation of natural oxide films. These thin surface layers are produced instantaneously when oxygen or water vapor is present in the gas atmosphere. They are responsible for corrosion behavior, for wear and friction of metallic materials, and also for hydrogen embrittlement and poisoning of catalytic surface reactions. Oxidation is a hindrance in surface science and in modern thin-film manufacturing. It can be reliably avoided only with expensive ultra-high vacuum techniques. Despite the practical relevance of the topic, quantitative data are sparse and the few papers published on low-temperature oxidation provide mainly qualitative information. This monograph presents an introduction to the subject in a tutorial style. It demonstrates how complex metal-gas interactions can be analyzed by standard procedures of chemical kinetics, and simulated by reaction models. Typical features of metal-gas reactions observed at ambient and elevated temperatures are illustrated by experimental results. Possible reaction mechanisms are described both by approximations and by advanced models. Rate and time laws describe the limiting cases and the more realistic situation where, in an overall reaction, several crucial partial steps must be considered, namely, adsorption onto the surface and the diffusion of charged or uncharged defects in metallic or semiconducting surface layers.

Kinetics of Metal-Gas Interactions at Low Temperatures is devoted to the formation of a natural oxide film. This few nm thick surface layer is produced instantaneously if oxygen or water vapor is present in the gas atmosphere. It is responsible for the corrosion behavior, for wear and friction of metallic materials, as well as for hydrogen embrittlement or poisoning of catalytic surface reactions. Oxidation impedes experiments in surface sciences and production processes in modern thin-film technology. It can reliably be avoided only if expensive ultra-high vacuum techniques are applied. This monograph presents an introduction to the subject in a tutorial style. It demonstrates how complex metal-gas interactions can be analyzed by standard procedures of chemical kinetics.

Presents typic experimental data and recent results of model calculations on the formation of the natural oxide film on a metal surface and of metal hydride formation. It describes the extented studies of the author and his coworkers. The book gives an overview on various types of models suitable for metal-gas reactions. Front Matter....Pages I-XIII Introduction....Pages 1-4 Principles of Reaction Kinetics....Pages 5-27 Experimental Techniques....Pages 28-40 Hydrogen Reactions....Pages 41-77 Low-Temperature Oxidation....Pages 78-122 Poisoning of Hydrogen Reactions....Pages 123-155 Back Matter....Pages 197-201