The electrically charged nature of crystal surfaces is a property that is not frequently considered in the analysis of the kinetics of growth of crystals, even though such a charge has been measured for many salts and minerals. The purpose of this contribution is to consider a possible mechanism for the development of this surface charge under conditions applicable to crystal growth, and to examine the implications of this proposed mechanism. In particular, necessary conditions for stoichiometric growth and the stability of growth are developed. The implication of the requirement for the electrical stability of the surface is that the rates of deposition of ions are dependent on the surface potential difference across the Stern layer. It is proposed that this dependence is a Boltzmann-like distribution, from which a kinetic equation for rate of growth of crystals surfaces is derived. This equation is consistent with the chemical thermodynamics, and has limiting forms that exhibit "orders" with respect to saturation that fall between first and second order, in agreement with the experimental data. This agreement suggests that the potential-dependent dehydration of ions during attachment might be the rate-controlling process in crystal growth.
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