Open AccessThe union of hydrogen and oxygen in presence of silver and gold
Author(s) -
David Leonard Chapman,
J. E. Ramsbottom,
C. G. Trotman
Publication year - 1925
Publication title -
proceedings of the royal society of london. series a, containing papers of a mathematical and physical character
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
eISSN - 2053-9150
pISSN - 0950-1207
DOI - 10.1098/rspa.1925.0007
Subject(s) - hydrogen , oxygen , catalysis , chemistry , condensation , metal , inorganic chemistry , organic chemistry , thermodynamics , physics
The action of the metals, silver and gold, in promoting the combination of hydrogen and oxygen was first investigated systematically by Bone and Wheeler ([A] 206, 1). In the course of the research they made the very important discovery that the degree of activity of the metals depended on whether these had been heated previously to use in hydrogen or oxygen. Either metal was found to be a much more efficient catalyst after it had been heated in hydrogen. They favoured the view that the phenomenon in question, which will for brevity be called the Bone and Wheeler effect, could be best explained by a theory very similar to that advanced by Fusinieri, namely, that the stages in the catalytic process (in the case of silver and gold) are a condensation of hydrogen on the heated surface and a subsequent removal of this hydrogen (which was assumed to be present in an abnormally active condition) by its uniting with the oxygen present.