The influence of lateral interactions between adsorbed molecules on adsorption kinetics. A statistical rate theory approach

The influence of lateral interactions between the adsorbed molecules is studied using the statistical rate theory (SRT). This approach makes it possible to introduce the interaction term into the kinetic equation in an easy and thermodynamically consistent way. The quasi-chemical approximation was applied to calculate the chemical potential of adsorbed molecules. The short-time behavior of the kinetic equation based on SRT is in agreement with experimental findings for the systems with lateral interactions. Moreover, the long-term behavior agrees with the equilibrium Langmuir isotherm combined with the quasi-chemical approximation. The experimental system, CO adsorption on Rh(100), was used for quantitative analysis; as a result, a good simultaneous description of equilibria and kinetics in this system was obtained.