The heterogeneous interaction of NO2 with amorphous carbon

From uptake measurements of NO2 on solid amorphous carbon in the mTorr pressure range and at ambient temperature an accommodation coefficient for NO2 of (4.8±0.6)·10−2 has been measured. These experiments reveal a complex chemical mechanism. The only major product observed is NO whose yield corresponds to about 60% of the NO2 adsorbed on the surface. Thermal desorption of a carbon sample that has been exposed to NO2 yields CO and CO2 along with some NO3 and/or N2O5. H2O does not interact measurably at ambient temperature with the type of carbon used in the present study.