A study of the mechanism of methyl iodide decomposition on Cu(110) surface: A UBI-QEP-based approach

The decomposition of methyl iodide on Cu(110) surface gives rise to the pro duction of methane, ethane, and ethene over a wide range of its surface cov erage. In this work a reaction mechanism based on the adsorption and subseq uent surface dissociation(s) of methyl iodide followed by the recombination and desorption of the surface entities are proposed on the basis of the en ergetic criteria provided by the unity bond index-quadratic exponential pot ential method. To further amplify the arguments using the calculated activa tion energies of the surface reactions, desorptions, etc., the Arrhenius fa ctor is obtained by simulation of the temperature-programmed desorption pat terns fitted to the experimental findings. A surface species designated as "hot methyl" or energized methyl with specific and determined properties, i ts heat of adsorption and residence time, have been assumed and accounts fo r the reported discrepancies between the calculated and experimental carbon balance in the surface reactions.