Recombination of oxygen atoms on oxide surfaces. Part 3.—Catalytic activities of doped oxides

Abstract

The recombination of oxygen atoms has been studied on the surfaces of pure and doped Fe₂O₃, NiO and ZnO at 300°K. Increasing p-typeness achieved by doping with lower valent ions, led in all cases to some increase in the recombination rate. Increasing n-typeness, caused by doping with higher valent ions, also produced an increase in activity relative to that of the pure parent oxide, which was most marked for Cr-doped NiO. A simple electrostatic approach was shown to account qualitatively for these observations.