Adsorbate ordering effects in the trimerization reaction of acetylene on Cu(100)

A study was conducted to analyze the trimerization of acetylene to benzene on a Cu(100) surface. The study was carried out in a stainless steel chamber supporting four-grid LEED apparatus, a quadrupole mass spectrometer and an Auger spectrometer. Results indicated that the mass 26 signal imitated the trimerization rate at high coverages. Findings also showed that increases in the reaction yield correlated with increases in the initial acetylene coverage.