Adsorption by single-file networks under molecular traffic control

In conventional adsorbate–adsorbent systems, for microdynamically indistinguishable species A and B, the total amount adsorbed is unaffected by intrinsic reactionsA→B. Under the conditions of molecular traffic control, i.e. for differing accommodation probabilities of the two species for different adsorbent segments, this simple rule collapses. As an example, mutually intersecting single-file systems are considered, where each of the two sets of parallel files is able to accommodate only one of the two molecular species. The total amount adsorbed as well as the sorbate distribution over the file network under stationary conditions are investigated by means of dynamic Monte Carlo simulations. With respect to a conventional (a “reference”) system, deviations are observed to both smaller and larger concentrations. Both of them may be explained by the peculiarities of intrinsic molecular transport.