Kinetic modeling of COad monolayer oxidation on carbon-supported platinum nanoparticles

We present a theoretical study of COad electrooxidation on Pt nanoparticles. Effects of size and surface texture of nanoparticles on the interplay of relevant kinetic processes are investigated. Thereby, strong impacts of particle size on electrocatalytic activities, observed in experiments, are rationalized. Our theoretical approach employs the active site concept to account for the heterogeneous surface of nanoparticles. It, moreover, incorporates finite rates of surface mobility of adsorbed CO. As demonstrated, the model generalizes established mean field or nucleation and growth models. We find very good agreement of our model with chronoamperometric current transients at various particle sizes and electrode potentials (Maillard, F.; Savinova, E. R.; Stimming, U. J. Electroanal. Chem., in press, doi:10.1016/j.jelechem.2006.02.024). The full interplay of onsite reactivity at active sites and low surface mobility of COad unfolds on the smallest nanoparticles (similar to 2 nm). In this case, the solution of the model requires kinetic Monte Carlo simulations specifically developed for this problem. For larger nanoparticles (> 4 nm) the surface mobility of COad is high compared to the reaction rate constants, and the kinetic equations can be solved in the limiting case of infinite surface mobility. The analysis provides an insight into the prevailing reaction mechanisms and allows for the estimation of relevant kinetic parameters.