Abstract
DR. J. A. V. BUTLER has criticised our remark that the influence of the composition of the liquid phase on the catalysed reaction of hydrogen and water seems to prove that the rate-determining factor is the ionisation of the adsorbed hydrogen and not the preliminary dissociation of hydrogen into adsorbed atoms.1 Butler suggests that changes of the catalyst such as coagulation, may explain our observations. Our communication as it stands is certainly open to this objection. We should have added, that in our experiment the greatest care has been taken to meet it, by ascertaining that all changes caused by the composition of the liquid phase are completely reversible. Twenty measurements were made on an identical sample of platinum black, all consistent with one another. Our platinum black was a quickly settling powder ; it was shaken 15–20 times per second with an amplitude of 4–5 cm.
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NATURE, 133, Jan. 6, 1934.
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HORIUTI, J., POLANYI, M. Catalytic Hydrogen Replacement and the Nature of Over-voltage. Nature 133, 142 (1934). https://doi.org/10.1038/133142c0
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/133142c0
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