The response of some nucleation/growth processes to triangular scans of potential

The voltammetric response of some nucleation/growth processes is derived, for the early stages of crystal growth where intercrystal collisions are statistically improbable. The theory is formulated for both interfacial and diffusional control of the crystal growth kinetics. It is shown that nucleation on forward scans often triggers current maxima on reverse scans, and numerical data on this phenomenon are obtained from a computer program using realistic values of nucleation and growth rates. Some experimental data are then reported for systems that exhibit maxima. Finally, it is suggested that the existence of maxima can be used to diagnose nucleation/growth kinetics, because other types of rate control, such as charge transfer, adsorption, and semi-infinite linear diffusion, do not generally exhibit this behaviour.