Prof. Gerhard Ertl (Department of Physical Chemistry, Fritz-Haber-Institut der Max-Planck-Gesellschaft in Berlin, Germany) won the 2007 Nobel Prize in Chemistry for his studies of chemical processes on solid surfaces. Gerhard Ertl is known for determining the detailed molecular mechanisms catalytic oxidation of carbon monoxide over platinum (catalytic converter). During his research he discovered the important phenomenon of oscillatory reactions on platinum surfaces and, using photoelectron microscopy, was able to image for the first time, the oscillating changes in surface structure and coverage that occur during reaction.
Oscillations appear in experiments of CO oxidation on Pt(llO) in a very narrow parameter interval. It is also possible to observe pattern formation: about T ~ 500K a crossover exist from spirals and fronts at low T to standing waves and chemical turbulence at high T.
We present Monte Carlo (MC) simulations of a microscopic model for CO oxidation on Pt(ll0). We show that our model can produce global oscillations via a new mechanism showing microscopic structures. Microscopic structures appear in the substrate, but they also support pattern formation in the adlayer on a mesoscopic length scale. In addition we provide a connection between these MC simulations and experimental results.
 „Simulation of kinetic oscillations in catalytic reactions on reconstructing surfaces”){kind=link}