The chemostress effect

Abstract

It is shown that the chemical potential of an adatom interacting with a solid substrate can change significantly when external stresses are applied to the solid. An explicit expression is derived for this chemostress coefficient in terms of experimentally measurable quantities starting with the canonical partition function and using the Jarman rule of polarizability for alkali halides and the Bardeen potential for metals. The analysis indicates the need to perform a number of specific experiments and to develop further the theory of dispersion forces at high pressures applied to the solid substrate. The importance of including this chemostress effect in hydrogen embrittlement of iron and oxidation of metals under high stresses is shown.