3.1. Thermodynamics and kinetics of adsorption and desorption

The chemist is aware of the synergetic effects arising from a simultaneous application of thermodynamic and kinetic concepts. To give a few examples, the (thermodynamical) Langmuir adsorption isotherm has a simple kinetic derivation, basing on the assumption of a dynamical equilibrium [La18]. We evaluate adsorbate binding energies from the temperature-dependence of desorption rates [Re62], whereas the basic assumption of the transition state theory (TST) is that of an equilibrium between reactants and activated complex, treated with statistical thermodynamics [Ey35, Gl41, Ey44]. In the following, we outline some basic concepts of surface thermodynamics and kinetics which are important for this work and try to emphasize the close relationship between them.