Effusive molecular beam measurements of angle-resolved thermal dissociative sticking coefficients for CH4 impinging on a Pt(111) surface, at a temperature of 700 K, are reported and compared to theoretical predictions. The reactivity falls off steeply as the molecular angle of incidence increases away from the surface normal. Successful modeling of the thermal dissociative sticking behavior, consistent with existent CH4 supersonic molecular beam experiments involving rotationally cold molecules, required that rotation be treated as a spectator degree of freedom.
scite is a Brooklyn-based organization that helps researchers better discover and understand research articles through Smart Citations–citations that display the context of the citation and describe whether the article provides supporting or contrasting evidence. scite is used by students and researchers from around the world and is funded in part by the National Science Foundation and the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health.