Hertz–Knudsen equation
In surface chemistry, the Hertz–Knudsen equation, also known as Knudsen–Langmuir equation describes evaporation rates, named after Heinrich Hertz and Martin Knudsen.
Definition
Non-dissociative adsorption (Langmuirian adsorption)
The Hertz–Knudsen equation describes the non-dissociative adsorption of a gas molecule on a surface by expressing the variation of the number of molecules impacting on the surfaces per unit of time as a function of the pressure of the gas and other parameters which characterise both the gas phase molecule and the surface:[1][2]
where:
| Quantity | Description | 
|---|---|
| A | Surface area (in m2) | 
| N | Number of gas molecules | 
| t | Time (in s) | 
| φ | Flux of the gas molecules (in m−2 s−1) | 
| α | Anomalous evaporation coefficient, 0 ≤ α ≤ 1, to match experimental results to theoretical predictions (Knudsen noted that experimental fluxes are lower than theoretical fluxes)[3] | 
| p | The gas pressure (in Pa) | 
| M | Molar mass (in kg mol−1) | 
| m | Mass of a particle (in kg) | 
| kB | Boltzmann constant | 
| T | Temperature (in K) | 
| R | Gas constant (J mol−1 K−1) | 
| NA | Avogadro constant (mol−1) | 
Since the equation result has the units of s−1 per area, it can be assimilated to a rate constant for the adsorption process.
See also
References
- ^ Kolasinski, Kurt W. (2012). Surface Science: Foundations of Catalysis and Nanoscience, Third Edition. p. 203. doi:10.1002/9781119941798.
- ^ R. B. Darling, EE-527: Micro Fabrication, Virginia University (retrieved Feb. 9 2015).
- ^ Holyst, Robert; Litniewski, Marek; Jakubczyk, Daniel (2015). "A molecular dynamics test of the Hertz–Knudsen equation for evaporating liquids". Soft Matter. 11 (36): 7201–7206. doi:10.1039/c5sm01508a.