Catalytic ignition on PdAu wires

Abstract

Davy's hot-wire method has been developed for PdAu wires and H₂ in air, to find the relation between alloy composition and ignition temperature. The activation energy for the surface ignition reaction has been derived, on certain assumptions, and its relation to PdAu composition found to parallel that for the para-H₂ conversion and H₂+ D₂ reactions. It has therefore been suggested that H₂ activation is the critical step for surface ignition on the PdAu surface, expressible in general terms as O_ad+H₂→ H₂O +□ where □ denotes on empty site on the wire surface.