MECHANISM OF POTASSIUM-LOSS BY DESORPTION FROM AN IRON-OXIDE CATALYST FOR THE STYRENE PROCESS

Several types of experiments have been done with molecular beam and mass spectrometric methods to characterize the desorption processes of potassium from a commercial styrene (potassium promoted iron oxide) catalyst. The loss of potassium as desorption of K is found to be mainly thermal, with an activation energy close to 1.0 eV (97 kJ/mole), which probably is associated with release of K from the initially bound positions in the bulk. The directly measured rate of loss as K appears too small to account for the experimentally observed total rate of loss. A new loss mechanism as electronically excited but not easily field ionizable potassium atoms is detected with an activation barrier of 1.7 eV (164 kJ/mole). Excited states may be important for the total loss both through direct emission of excited K atoms, and since excited states may give rise to cluster formation at the surface and more rapid loss as clusters Kn. © 1990 J.C. Baltzer A.G. Scientific Publishing Company.