Surface Oxide Film of Metallic Small Particle

The relationship between the particle size and the thickness of the surface oxide film was investigated in the metallic small particles of Al, Mg, Zn, Sn and Be by the thermogravimetric analysis. It is found that the oxide film thickness became thinner as the size became smaller. It is explained on the basis of the theory of Mott and Cabrera that the change of the transfer energy of charge in the oxide suppresses the dissolution of the metallic ion or the electron into the oxide from the metal, and as a result, prevents the oxidation growth in a small particl.