In reply to Roarty, Francis X's message of Mon, 14 Jun 2010 08:02:11 -0400: Hi Fran, [snip] >On Sun, 13 Jun 2010 16:46 Robin van Spaandonk said > The purpose of the Ni is to convert molecular Hydrogen into atomic Hydrogen > at the surface. That's why finely divided Ni powders work better. More > surface area per unit mass. On such a surface it is possible for Hydrogen > *atoms* to get close enough to one another to catalyze shrinkage. > >Robin, > I agree The purpose of the catalyst is to convert molecular Hydrogen or > deuterium into atomic form. This is in opposition to natures preference for a > diatomic state and will only maintain the disassociation while time and > temperature allows. Do you consider this a conservative reaction and if not > where is the energy coming from?
Perhaps it is analogous to the formation of Hydrogen bonds in water, but in this case the bond is between multiple metal atoms and one H of a molecule. The bonds with the metal weaken the bond between the two H atoms to the extent that it can easily be broken (just a guess on my part). [snip] BTW IIRC tetracarbonylnickel decomposes on heating to form an extremely fine Ni powder. Has anyone tried using this? Regards, Robin van Spaandonk http://rvanspaa.freehostia.com/Project.html
