Stabilizing transient nanopatterns in heterogeneous catalysis: A comprehensive explanation of the phenomenon

A pattern-formation mechanism driven by attractive forces—previously studied in the context of lateral interactions between adsorbates—is reassessed through a simplified model. In its original version, such a mechanism needed an additional chemical reaction to stabilize the pattern. Recently, that goal has been achieved by means of a particular multiplicative noise. However, many details of the mechanism have remained obscure. In order to clarify them, we resorted to a simplified model that reproduces qualitatively the results of the studies carried out on the complete model. Our analysis reveals that such a mechanism may largely transcend the context in which it was found.