I.D. Chapple-Sokol, Cl Giunta, and R.G. Gordon (J Electrochem Sac 136,2993 (1989)) proposed the following radical chain mechanism for the initial stages of the gas-phase oxidation of silane by nitrous oxide:

Label each step with its role in the chain. Use the steady-state approximation to show that this mechanism predicts the following rate law for SiH. Consumption (provided k and k6 are in some sense small):

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(1) N,0 N, + O (2) O+SiH, SiH, + OH (3) OH + SiH, → SiH, + H,O (4) SiH; + N,0 -→ SiH,0+ N, (5) SiH,O+ SiH,→ SiH,OH+ SiH, (6) SiH, + SiH,0 → (H,Si),O d[SiH,] --k[N,O][SiH,1/2 dt