State-resolved dynamics of oxygen atom recombination on polycrystalline Ag

The dynamics of the O-atom recombination reaction on the surface of a polycrystalline Ag surface were discussed. The Ag membrane was found to be permeable to oxygen atoms resulting from dissociative adsorption on the high pressure side. It was shown that oxygen transport at the Ag-foil temperature results in a very high loading of dissolved oxygen, which undergoes diffusion to surface sites and recombinative desorption. The measured velocity distributions were found near Maxwell-Boltzman and yielded average translational energies, which were lower than the surface temperature. The sticking curves showed a small energy barrier beyond which sticking decreases.