KINETICS IN SOLIDS

The kinetics of solid state reactions generally cannot be assumed to f ollow simple rate laws that are applicable to gas-phase reactions. Nev ertheless, a widely practiced method for extracting Arrhenius paramete rs from thermal analysis experiments involves force fitting of experim ental data to simple reaction-order kinetic models. This method can pr oduce significant errors in predicted rates outside the experimental r ange of temperatures, and it is of limited utility for drawing mechani stic conclusions about reactions. In this review, we discuss how an al ternative ''model-free'' approach to kinetic analysis, which is based on the isoconversional method, can overcome some of these limitations.