| The surface chemistry of five general classes of compounds has been investigated on the flat, hexagonally close-packed Os(001) and Ru(001) surfaces. The five classes were: (1) small inorganic molecules, (2) benzene and its derivatives, (3) heteroaromatics, (4) inorganic and organic cyanides, and (5) oxygen-containing hydrocarbons. Studies were conducted both at room and low temperature with thermal desorption mass spectrometry, low energy electron diffraction, and Auger electron spectroscopy. In general, the chemistry displayed on these surfaces after adsorption at room temperature was quantitative decomposition, except for the small inorganic molecules, and hydrogen cyanide, cyanogen, and trifluoroacetonitrile. Adsorption at low temperature often led to the appearance of new but weak molecular desorptions, however, the major process observed was still decomposition. Aspects of the decomposition processes of certain molecules have been elucidated by utilizing isotopic labelling and by comparing the decomposition of series of homologous compounds. |
