Related Experiment Video
Updated: Sep 27, 2026

Electrochemical Roughening of Thin-Film Platinum Macro and Microelectrodes
Published on: June 30, 2019
Reconstruction and roughening of a catalytic Pt(110) surface coupled to kinetic oscillations
1Department of Chemical Engineering, Technion, 32000 Technion City, Haifa, Israel.
Abstract:
Three-dimensional reconstruction and roughening of a Pt(110) surface is studied with the help of a qualitative Monte Carlo model. A distinct CO adsorption uptake on different surface phases is taken into account. The computations show that a "missing row" structure with defects relaxes to a more stable (111)-faceted structure. The CO+O2 reaction kinetics is modeled by a phenomenological equation with a cubic nonlinearity reproducing a correct qualitative picture of oscillations. The surface roughening developing under the reaction conditions causes slow changes in catalytic activity of the surface. A nanoscale front between the 1x1 and 1x2 phases disintegrates due to repeated phase transitions caused by CO coverage oscillations. Defect formation and roughening dominate the dynamics of surface phase transitions. A one-dimensional extension of the model reproduces microscopic traveling waves on the CO diffusion scale.
Related Concept Videos
Heterogeneous Catalysis
Catalysis
Catalysis
Introduction to Mechanisms of Enzyme Catalysis
Introduction to Mechanisms of Enzyme Catalysis

