At 02:30 PM 6/14/2011, Harry Veeder wrote:
Since the Widom-Larsen theory explains the positive results,
can it also explain the negative results. A good theory should be
able to do both.
I don't see W-L theory explaining positive results, at all. If so,
it's been very badly explained!
Krivit completely failed to be the "investigative journalist," asking
hard questions, with W-L theory.
Yes, a good theory would explain both positive and negative results.
Nothing is really close to that yet, though what I heard at MIT last
weekend does give me some hope.
Still, Peter Hagelstein was struggling with models for
electrochemical loading. Apparently the standard models suck, to use
a technical term. Peter has more or less figured out why, but it's
very difficult to model, since it depends on quite a chaotic and very
individual process, for each cathode, as it develops what he calls
"internal leaks," that is, leaks into internal cavities and domain
boundaries, that eventually communicate to the outside. Put another
way, the palladium can develop a high surface area, with most of the
surface being "internal" and not exposed to the electrolyte and thus
to loading, only to deloading.
