SPATIOTEMPORAL SELFORGANIZATION ON ISOTHERMAL CATALYSTS

The dynamics of a large number of heterogeneously catalyzed reactions have been studied under a variety of conditions using different catalysts and reactor designs. Experiments with single crystal surfaces at low pressure are required in order to elucidate the underlying elementary chemical steps. Here we present a case study of such an approach using the isothermal CO oxidation on a Pt(110) surface. Surface science experiments allow to construct a simple but realistic reaction-diffusion model capable of reproducing the experimentally observed spatiotemporal patterns, representative examples of which are described.