Sublimation of a crystal slowed by sorption of foreign molecules from a gaseous medium

Numerical simulation of the sublimation of the surface of an ice crystal has shown that the presence of a non-condensable gas substantially reduces the sublimation rate. It has been found that the slowing of the sublimation due to the adsorption of gas molecules on the crystal surface that fill the vacancies during sublimation prevents the formation of vacancy islands on the surface of the crystal required for evaporation of the surface molecular layer. The available results of studies that explain the slowing of the sublimation by the presence of a diffusion layer formed in the vapor medium near the sublimating surface are supplemented with new data showing that molecular processes on the crystal surface play an equally important role as the diffusion layer. Cases have been found where crystal sublimation is accelerated by the sorption of gas molecules. The obtained results refining the theory of sublimation can be used to develop methods for controlling sublimation.