CHEMISORPTION ON SURFACES - AN HISTORICAL LOOK AT A REPRESENTATIVE ADSORBATE - CARBON-MONOXIDE

The study of the interaction of molecules with clean surfaces extends back to the work of Irving Langmuir. In this historical account, the development of selected experimental methods for the study of molecular adsorption will be discussed. This will be done by historically reviewing research on one of the most well-studied adsorbate molecules, carbon monoxide. Many of the modern surface science techniques have first been used to study chemisorbed carbon monoxide, and the CO molecule is employed even today as a test molecule for currently developing surface measurement instruments such as the low temperature STM. In addition to being a good test molecule for new surface measurement techniques, adsorbed carbon monoxide is one of the centrally important molecules in the field of heterogeneous catalysis where the production of synthetic fuels and useful organic molecules often depends on the catalytic behavior of the adsorbed CO molecule. Interestingly, the carbon monoxide molecule also serves as a bridge between surface chemistry on the transition metals and the field of organometallic chemistry. Concepts about the chemical bonding and the reactive behavior of CO chemisorbed on transition metal surfaces and CO bound in transition metal carbonyls link these two fields together in a significant manner. The carbon monoxide molecule has been the historical focal point of many endeavors in surface chemistry and surface physics, and research on adsorbed carbon monoxide well represents many of the key advances which characterize the first thirty years of the development of surface science.