title: How many Langmuirs are required for monolayer formation?
abstract: In the present work, we provide the exact answer to the title question employing a probabilistic approach. The average number of Langmuirs L required for monolayer formation was found to be equal to (1/i), i.e., the armonic series up to the nth term, where n is the number of adsorption sites. This result is particularly useful when a reduced number of adsorption sites is considered, such as adsorption on small terraces of nanoscopic dimensions where the value of n could be in the range of a few thousands sites. In this case, the use of integrated equations derived from the mean-field approach would provide completely misleading results.
authors.affiliation: Instituto de Investigaciones Fisicoquímicas Teóricas y Aplicadas (INIFTA), CONICET, Facultad de Ciencias Exactas Universidad Nacional de La Plata, República Argentina.
authors.forename: A E
authors.initials: AE
authors.lastname: Bea
authors.forename: I M
authors.initials: IM
authors.lastname: Irurzun
authors.forename: E E
authors.initials: EE
authors.lastname: Mola