On the rate equation of nucleation and the concept of active sites in electrodeposition

Abstract

On the basis of the assumption that on a homogeneous surface area a probability 0 < P(E, c) <1 for nucleation can be defined which increases with the monomer concentration c and is also dependent on the potential E, it is shown both by a schematic computer simulation and by an approximate analytical derivation that necessarily the number of nuclei has to attain a limiting value for long times, without having to resort to the existence of active sites. It follows that this limiting number arises from a concurrence between the probability of nucleation and the processes that accompany the growth of a nucleus and that decrease supersaturation.