화학공학소재연구정보센터
Journal of Chemical Physics, Vol.110, No.6, 3056-3062, 1999
Kinetic transitions in diffusion-reaction space. II. Geometrical effects
We extend the stochastic master equation approach described earlier [J. J. Kozak and R. Davidson, J. Chem. Phys. 101, 6101 (1994)] to examine the influence on reaction efficiency of multipolar correlations between a fixed target molecule and a diffusing coreactant, the latter constrained to move on the surface of a host medium (e.g., a colloidal catalyst or molecular organizate) modeled as a Cartesian shell [Euler characteristic, chi = 2]. Our most comprehensive results are for processes involving ion pairs, and we find that there exists a transition between two qualitatively different types of behavior in diffusion-reaction space, viz., a regime where the coreactant's motion is totally correlated with respect to the target ion, and a regime where the coreactant's motion is effectively uncorrelated. This behavior emerges both in the situation where correlations between the ion pair are strictly confined to the surface of the host medium or where correlations can be propagated through the host medium. The effects of system size are also examined and comparisons with diffusion-reaction processes taking place on surfaces characterized by Euler characteristic chi = 0 are made. In all cases studied, the most dramatic effects on the reaction efficiency are uncovered in the regime where the Onsager (thermalization) length is comparable to the mean displacement of the coreactant, a conclusion consistent with results reported in earlier work.