Interpretation of irregular water profiles at silica surfaces

In the present Report, we will discuss the irregular water distributions at silica surfaces as were reported by the measured data from Zouine et al. [1], especially those at room temperature. The question was whether the deviations from the usually found erfc-shaped water pro- files can be understood by competing diffusion and surface dissolution and whether back-diffusion after water or air storage, may affect the type of water profile. We will come to the conclusion that the irregular distributions of the measured data by Zouine et al. [1], especially those at room tem- perature, can be understood by back-diffusion after water or air storage, respectively.