V. Logvinenko / Thermochimica Acta 340±341 (1999) 293±299
295
generally accepted as being correct. This problem
is the subject of a comprehensive discussion in
is significantly anisotropic [12]. All water mole-
cules in the elemental cell are equivalent; they are
bonded with SO42 Ð anions (by hydrogen
�
[
4].
3
. It is well known that the surface structure of
crystal faces is not like the bulk of these crystals.
In the crystals of such metals as Pb, Al, Au, Cu
and W, the surface interplanar spacings are
squeezed, with distances shortening from 3% to
bonds) and with Li Ð cation (by the coordina-
tion bond) and are arranged in a zigzag fashion.
This pronounced chain motif is responsible for the
anisotropy of the crystal structure: the crystal face
(0 1 0) is perpendicular to the chains of water
molecules, and the (1 0 1) plane is parallel to these
chains.
58%. On the other hand, the deformation of the
surface for ionic crystals results in an increase of
the interplanar spacings (for the first five surface
layers the increase is as much as 2±11%) [5]; for
the crystals of the noble gases, xenon and argon,
this increase reaches 3.5% [5,6]. On surface of
organic molecular crystals, several layers are so
disordered that their features are close to those of
the melt [7]. The surface of ice has imperfections
Furthermore, tablets compacted from polycrystal
powder (with dominant size 0.4±0.5 mm), have abso-
lutely the same kinetic parameters as single crystals,
when the tablet density reaches 92±98% of the theo-
retical density for the single crystal. The explanation
of such behavior is the identity of the make up of the
reaction zone in all these three cases; the ``product±
reagent'' interface is parallel to the decomposing
crystal face or to the tablet surface, the reaction zone
consists of a set of blocks with interface boundaries
clearly seen by scanning election microscopy, and the
(
steps of molecular size) and gains mobility
already at ±1408C and is liquid-like from ±308C;
the thickness of this water film is 10 monomole-
cular layers [5].
There are so-called ``chemical sublimation''
processes, involving interaction of the active gas
with the solid substance and sublimation of the
±7
±7
average block size is 5 Â 10 ±7 Â 10 cm. The
water is eliminated unhindered from all block faces.
±5
compound formed; e.g., Si 2Cl
! SiCl ".
It was noted that small fragments, 5 Â 10 cm in
size and extended like rice grains, are formed during
the dehydration of large blocks. Their pattern may be
different; the (1 0 1) planes may be packed in an
orderly fashion, being mutually perpendicular to
one another, or they may be disordered. Such a frag-
ment appears to be the elemental reacting block [12].
These small fragments do not break up during repeats
of the rehydration±dehydration experiments.
(
s)
2(g)
4(g)
Since the experimental rates of such a chemical
sublimation do not depend on the reacting crystal
face, it is suggested that the reactive surface layer
(
being produced by the initial chemical sorption)
is uniform for all crystal faces [8]. For single
crystals of Mo, Ni and Ag the rates of the atomic
vaporization are equal for different crystal faces
[
9], and the specific catalytic activity of metallic
and oxide catalysts does not depend on the crystal
face chosen [10].
Worthy of mention are the known considerations of
the actual activated volume for the reaction in the
condensed state. For supercooled liquid ¯ow it was
shown that the ``elementary act'' of relaxation (with
the bonds breaking and relative orientation) demands
simultaneous involvement of the whole group of
atoms. The number of such structural elements or
atoms, involved in this change, does not depend on
the nature of the substance and runs into hundreds
[13,14]. In the rigid solid body the instantaneous local
distortion of the crystal lattice must capture the greater
volume.
The most significant example is the very
anisotropic layered compound graphite. For the
ideal single crystal the ratio of the reaction rates
on the different crystal faces must reach a factor of
1
5
10
times, but for real graphite single crystal this
ratio is reduced to only 100-fold [11].
4
. Some new results of the study of decomposition
kinetics are of fundamental importance. The study
of the dehydration process of single crystals of
Li SO ÁH O showed that the difference between
2
4
2
the transformation rates for the sections of
different crystallographic orientation is very small
In solid state chemistry the term elemental reacting
block implies the minimum volume, in which the
chemical transformation proceeds simultaneously
(
V010/V101 1.17), although the crystal structure