Nucleation rate in electrocrystallization of cadmium on the Cd(0001) crystal face

Experimental data are presented for the rate of stationary two-dimensional nucleation in electrocrystallization of cadmium on the surface of the Cd(0001) crystal face in 2.5 M CdSO4 aqueous solution at 45°C. The overpotential dependence of the nucleus size is determined in a model-independent way, by analyzing the data with the help of the nucleation theorem. The analysis leads to the value of 2.1×10−13 J cm−1 for the specific peripheral energy of the cadmium nucleus.