Critical and oscillatory behavior of a dimer-monomer catalyzed reaction process

A lattice-gas model for the catalyzed reaction ${A+(1/2)B}_2\to \mathrm{AB}$ is studied. The model assumes that the catalyst’s surface undergoes reactant-induced reversible phase transitions between stable and reconstructed phases, in the low and high $A$-coverage limits, respectively. The model exhibits a reversible transition between a regime of high reactivity and a state where reactivity is almost negligible. The structural transitions of the surface coupled with reactant coverages causes an oscillatory behavior in the high-reactivity regime of the reaction.