Dimer-dimer surface reaction of Albano's type: a cellular automaton approach

Abstract
The dimer-dimer catalytic surface reaction of Albano's type ( 1/2 A2+B2 to B2A) is studied with the aid of the cellular automaton model of Chopard and Droz (1988), as modified by Ziff, Fichthorn and Gulari (1991). A mean-field analysis is given, with results indicating that the reaction proceeds only at p=pc (p is the partial pressure of species B2 in the gaseous phase), when no recombination reaction of adsorbed B-species is considered, and a reaction window with B2A production occurs for p>pc, when the recombination mentioned above is taken into account. Our mean-field results are qualitatively in agreement with Albano's Monte Carlo simulations on a square lattice, and are valid in general, independent of the type of the lattice (square, hexagonal, etc.).