Dissolution kinetics of ionic single crystals

When an ionic single crystal is immersed in solution, the surrounding solution becomes saturated with respect to the substrate ions, so, initially the system is at equilibrium and there is no net dissolution or growth. With the UME positioned close to the substrate, the tip potential is stepped from a value where no electrochemical reactions occur to one where the electrolysis of one type of the lattice ion occurs at a diffusion controlled rate. This process creates a local undersaturation at the crystal-solution interface, perturbs the interfacial equilibrium, and provides the driving force for the dissolution reaction. The perturbation mode can be employed to initiate, and quantitatively monitor, dissolution reactions, providing unequivocal information on the kinetics and mechanism of the process. 

The scope of kinetics includes (i) the rates and mechanisms of homogeneous chemical reactions (reactions that occur in one single phase, such as ionic and molecular reactions in aqueous solutions, radioactive decay, many reactions in silicate melts, and cation distribution reactions in minerals), (ii) diffusion (owing to random motion of particles) and convection (both are parts of mass transport diffusion is often referred to as kinetics and convection and other motions are often referred to as dynamics), and (iii) the kinetics of phase transformations and heterogeneous reactions (including nucleation, crystal growth, crystal dissolution, and bubble growth). 

The kinetics of dissolution of ionic solids has traditionally been studied via the measurement of bulk concentration changes in, for example, stirred suspensions. Using the equilibrium perturbation mode of the SECM, the experimenter can control directly the interfacial undersaturation and make measurements at single crystal surfaces or with micrometer spatial resolution [24]. 

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