SURFACE-MEDIATED CHEMILUMINESCENT REACTION OF O AND NO

Deep-red chemiluminescence occurs when beams of O and NO react on metal surfaces. Of the metals studied (Ni, Co, Pt; Kovar, Invar, and Monel), nickel was the most effective at promoting the chemiluminescent reaction. The rate depends inversely on the surface temperature. The reaction rate appears to be controlled by the flux of NO to the surface, and does not depend strongly on the NO beam temperature. These behaviors indicate that the chemiluminescence arises not from a gas-phase reaction near the surface, but from a surface-mediated reaction of O and NO to produce electronically excited gas-phase NO2, most probably of the Langmuir-Hinshelwood variety.