Sticking coefficient is the term used in surface physics to describe the ratio of the number of adsorbate atoms (or molecules) that adsorb, or "stick", to a surface to the total number of atoms that impinge upon that surface during the same period of time.
The coefficient is a function of surface temperature, surface coverage (θ) and structural details as well as the kinetic energy of the impinging particles.
The original formulation was for molecules adsorbing from the gas phase and the equation was later extended to adsorption from the liquid phase by comparison with molecular dynamics simulations.
[2] For use in adsorption from liquids the equation is expressed based on solute density (molecules per volume) rather than the pressure.
When arriving at a site of a surface, an adatom has three options.
), and a probability that it will desorb from the surface and return to the bulk gas (
We also remember that If we just look at the P of migration at the first site, we see that it is certainty minus all other possibilities.