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Updated: Jun 4, 2026

Multiscale Sampling of a Heterogeneous Water/Metal Catalyst Interface using Density Functional Theory and Force-Field Molecular Dynamics
Published on: April 12, 2019
Adlayer inhomogeneity without lateral interactions: rationalizing correlation effects in CO oxidation at RuO2(110)
Sebastian Matera1, Hakim Meskine, Karsten Reuter
1Fritz-Haber-Institut der Max-Planck-Gesellschaft, Faradayweg 4-6, D-14195 Berlin, Germany. matera@fhi-berlin.mpg.de
Abstract:
Microkinetic modeling of surface chemical reactions still relies heavily on the mean-field based rate equation approach. This approach is expected to be most accurate for systems without appreciable lateral interactions among the adsorbed chemicals, and there in particular for the uniform adlayers resulting in poisoned regimes with predominant coverage of one species. Using first-principles kinetic Monte Carlo simulations and the CO oxidation at RuO(2)(110) as a showcase, we demonstrate that even in this limit mean-field rate equations fail to predict the catalytic activity by orders of magnitude. This deficiency is traced back to the inability to account for the vacancy pair formation that is kinetically driven by the ongoing reactions.
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