Hysteresis in an Electrochemical System: Br Electrodeposition on Ag(100)

We examine hysteresis in cyclic voltammetry of Br electrosorption onto single-crystal Ag(100) by dynamic Monte Carlo simulations. At room temperature, this system displays a second-order phase transition from a low-coverage disordered phase to a doubly degenerate $c (2 \times 2)$ phase. The electrochemical potential is ramped back and forth across the phase transition, linearly in time, and the phase lag between the response of the adlayer and the potential is observed to depend on the sweep rate. The hysteresis in this system is caused by slow ordering/disordering kinetics and critical slowing-down.