Dissolution of PZT 52/48 in aqueous sulfuric acid environments

Abstract

Thin Film samples were exposed to a single drop of 0.1 N and 1 N aqueous sulfuric acid solutions at temperatures between 25° C and 92° C. It was optically observed that a white filmed appeared on the surface as a reaction product. At both concentrations, increases in temperature lead to an increase in reaction rate for droplet exposed samples. These reactions were found to follow Arrhenius behavior. The 1 N solution activation energy of film appearance was found to be 69100 J, and for 0.1 N solution was found to be 48300 J. It was expected that an increase in concentration would lead to an increase in reaction rate as well. However for single droplet exposure it was found that lower concentrations resulted in increased reaction rate. This may be due to the difference in interfacial energy between the solution and PZT surface as a result of the concentration of sulfuric acid.