$n$-alkanes on MgO(100). II. Chain length dependence of kinetic desorption parameters for small $n$-alkanes

Coverage-dependent desorption-kinetics parameters are obtained from high-quality temperature-programmed desorption data for seven small $n$-alkane molecules on MgO(100). The molecules, $CNH2N+2$ $(N=1–4,6,8,10)$⁠, were each studied for a set of 29 initial coverages at a heating ramp rate of $0.6K∕s$ as well as at a set of nine ramp rates in the range of $0.3–10.0K∕s$⁠. The inversion analysis method with its least-squares preexponential factor (prefactor) optimization discussed in the accompanying article is applied to these data. This method allows for accurate determination of prefactors and coverage-dependent desorption energies. The prefactor for desorption increases dramatically with chain length from $1013.1to1019.1s−1$ over the range of $N=1–10$⁠. We show that this increase can be physically justified by considering the increase in rotational entropy available to the molecules in the gaslike transition state for desorption. The desorption energy increases with chain length as $Ed(N)=6.5+7.1N$⁠, which implies an incremental increase of $7.1±0.2kJ∕mol$ per $CH2$⁠.