Study of potential oscillations during reaction of an aluminium single crystal with an aqueous KOH solution

Abstract

The authors investigated periodic potential changes measured on oriented sections of Al single crystals during spontaneous dissolution in dilute aqueous solutions of KOH, with the aim to find optimum conditions for the formation of potential oscillations. It was found that this phenomenon is related with the kinetics of the reaction investigated, whose rate also changed periodically. The mechanism of the oscillations is discussed in view of the experimental findings.