Ion mobility and material transport on KBr in air as a function of the relative humidity

Surfaces exposed to air can change their structure due to external influences such as chemical reactions or material exchange and movement. The adsorbed water layer that is present under ambient conditions plays an important role especially for highly soluble materials. Surface atoms can easily diffuse into the thin water layer and, when surface conditions are favorable, they can re-attach to the surface. We collected atomic force microscopy images of KBr surfaces in a humidity-controlled glove box at various relative humidities below 40%. By scratching and poking the surface with the AFM tip, we constructed energetically unfavorable holes or scratch sites and material accumulations and recorded the evolution of these defects as a function of the time. We observed an exponential decay of the size of the defects and material accumulations, and from this data we determined energy barriers to dissolution and aggregation of approximately 0.9 eV.