Coexistence for a catalytic surface reaction model (Q1370995)

The paper is motivated by the study of the catalytic surface in some chemical reaction, as the oxydation of the carbon monoxide on a platinum surface, in an automobile emission. The authors study a two-dimensional catalytic surface reaction between a monomer \(X\) and a polymer \(Y_n\) consisting of \(n\) identical atoms and such that \(Y_n\) reacts with \(nX\) to form \(nXY\). The reactants are present above the surface in a gaseous phase and bond to the surface at certain rates. The authors consider the case of a polymer consisting of \(n=N^2\) atoms arranged in a square of length \(N\), with \(N\) large. They show that when the range of interaction is large, compared to the polymer size, \(X\) and \(Y\) will typically coexist on the catalytic surface for appropriate bonding rates. If the range of interaction is small compared to the polymer size, then, irrespective of the bonding rates, the surface will eventually be fully occupied by the monomer \(X\).