Adsorption of iso-butane on ZnO(0 0 0 1)–Zn

Presented are thermal desorption spectroscopy (TDS) and adsorption probability measurements of iso-butane on the Zn-terminated surface of ZnO. The initial adsorption probability, S0, decreases linearly from 0.57 to 0.22 (±0.02) with impact energy, Ei = 0.74–1.92 eV, and is independent of adsorption temperature, Ts = 91–114 K (±5 K), indicating non-activated molecular adsorption. The coverage, Θ, dependent adsorption probabilities, S(Θ), show a cross-over from adsorbate-assisted adsorption (S increases with Θ) to Kisliuk-like dynamics at about the desorption temperature of iso-butane bi-layers (∼110 K). Thus, the adsorption dynamics are precursor-mediated. The enhanced (gas-surface) mass-match, caused by forming a second layer of the alkane, leads to adsorbate-assisted adsorption. A direct fitting procedure of the TDS data yields a pre-exponential factor of 2.5 × 1013/s and a coverage dependent heat of adsorption of Ed(Θ) = 39 − 6 ∗ Θ + 2.5 ∗ exp(−Θ/0.07) kJ/mol.