1996 Clara Benson Award Lecture - The kinetics of the reaction of carbon with oxygen

The results of studies of the kinetics of the reaction of oxygen with thin films of carbon are described with special emphasis on the role, in the mechanism of the reaction, of the stable complex formed between oxygen and the carbon surface. A key part of the proposed mechanism is the reaction between gaseous oxygen and the stable complex to form the product carbon dioxide. Measurements of the total pressure and the products formed as a function of time of the reaction have allowed estimates of the rate constants for the elementary reactions that make up the mechanism. This in turn has led to the application of computer modelling to the mechanism of the reaction and to the development of a more detailed mechanism involving two types of reactive sites on the carbon surface.