Nobel Prize in Chemistry
"for his studies of chemical processes on solid surfaces"
The Nobel Prize in chemistry for 2007 is awarded to Gerhard Ertl for his thorough
studies of fundamental molecular processes at the gas-solid interface.
When a small molecule hits a solid surface from a gas phase there are a number of possible
outcomes. The molecule may simply either bounce back or be adsorbed. It is the latter
case that carries the most interesting possibilities. The interaction with the atoms of
the surface can be so strong that the molecule dissociates into constituent groups or
atoms. The molecule can also react directly with surface groups and change the
chemical properties of the surface. A third possibility is that the adsorbed molecule
encounters another previously adsorbed one and there is a binary chemical reaction on
the surface.
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