PLANE SPECIFICITY IN REACTION OF METHANOL AND ETHANOL VAPOR WITH CLEAN GERMANIUM

The adsorption of methanol and ethanol vapor on clean germanium powder and the subsequent desorptipn of the decomposition products as a function of temperature have been studied. The results are interpreted in terms of a dissociative adsorption mechanism and covalent adsorption complexes are proposed. The adsorption and desorption are found to be plane specific. Twice as much is adsorbed on the (100) plane as on the (111) plane, which is in accordance with the number of dangling bonds per germanium surface atom on these planes. The desorption products from these two types of surface are different.