Abstract
No better perspective of the development of our knowledge concerning adsorption at surfaces can be obtained than by contrasting the contents of one of the many monographs published on this subject in recent years with the considered views of Nernst, as expressed in the sixth edition of his famous textbook in theoretical chemistry, which appeared twenty-five years ago. At that time the process of adsorption on surfaces was regarded essentially as due to the formation on the substrate of a dense atmosphere-like layer many molecules thick. Of this concept no vestige remains. Whilst the fundamental qualitative expressions of the more modern views are essentially simpler and more direct than the old, yet the detailed processes are undoubtedly complex and still await complete elucidation.
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RIDEAL, E. Adsorption Concepts in Chemistry. Nature 135, 737–738 (1935). https://doi.org/10.1038/135737a0
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/135737a0