Structure and stoichiometry prediction of surfaces reacting with multicomponent gases.

Reactive interactions of molecules with solid surfaces are of key interest for catalysis and surface functionalization. Here, conceptual shortcomings of previous theoretical methods for the prediction of steady-state surface structures and stoichiometries from first-principles thermodynamics are identified. An extension is then proposed, which now enables the unconstrained description of an arbitrary number of mutually reacting gas-phase species.