Influence of atomic-scale irregularities in fractal analysis of electrode surfaces

To clarify the vague points appeared in the literature, it was discussed that fractal analysis of electrode surfaces based on the concept of 'diffusion toward electrode surfaces' is only able to monitor surface roughness in scales larger than 10 nm. When inspecting fractality in atomic scale (and even up to 10 nm), electrochemical measurements are not reliable due to the presence of surface defects, which affect the electrochemical reaction. In other words, for fractal analysis of electrode surfaces, the diffusion layer width which acts as yardstick length, should be sufficiently large, incomparable to the scale of atomic inhomogeneities. To this aim, the experiment time should be sufficiently long or the diffusion coefficient should be sufficiently large. (C) 2004 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.