Kinetics of gas adsorption on strongly heterogeneous solid surfaces: A statistical rate theory approach

A fundamental theoretical investigation is carried out on the applicability of the Condensation Approximation (CA) method of generalizing the theoretical description of the kinetics of gas adsorption/desorption on/from energetically heterogeneous solid surfaces. Our investigation implies that the commonly observed Elovich's behavior is a consequence of carrying out kinetic experiments at conditions not far from equilibrium. This striking result seems to suggest that the applicability of that popular approximation deserves further fundamental study.