ElIonT
Project description
It is undisputed that electrochemistry has a central role in our contemporary society. This is demonstrated by its profound involvement in many aspects of everyday life: from powering portable electronic devices to personal electro-mobility, passing through recycling, waste water treatment, clean energy production, water desalination, personal care, and others. It appears that we have reached the limits of the technological development and not further revolutionary progresses can be achieved without a deeper understanding of the electron- and ion-transfer process at the interface.
The objective of this project is to achieve a phenomenological modeling of the electron- and ion-transfer processes, by extending the Marcus-Hush theory of the electron transfer to a general kinetic equation based on experimental data. The extended kinetic equation should include and clarify the role of the excess free Gibbs energy on the kinetics of electron- and ion-transfer, as well as the role of the double layer charge (Frumkin effect). A unified theory of charge transfer and transport will be proposed in the frame of the phenomenological theory of transport and of classic and extended irreversible thermodynamics. Since the investigated phenomena are complex and inter-linked, the investigation techniques must seize snapshots of the system during its evolution; this will be done by hyphenating the electrochemical techniques with quartz crystal microbalance, able to measure in real time nanogram mass changes. In order to cover the time-scales necessary to develop the phenomenological theory, we will measure dynamic impedance and differential immitance spectra with a dynamic multi-frequency approach. This is based on perturbing the system with a multi-sine signal and extracting the linear and non-linear current response and mass change. The evaluation of the phenomenological parameters will rely on novel analysis algorithms and on precise modeling in interface.
Publications as part of the project
R. Trócoli, A. Morata, C. Erinmwingbovo, F. La Mantia, A. Tarancón, “Self-discharge in Li-ion aqueous batteries: A case study on LiMn2O4”,
Electrochimica Acta 373, 137847 (2021). DOI: 10.1016/j.electacta.2021.137847
C. Erinmwingbovo, V. Siller, M. Nu?ez, R. Trócoli, D. Brogioli, A. Morata, F. La Mantia, “Dynamic impedance spectroscopy of LiMn2O4 thin films made by multi-layer pulsed laser deposition”,
Electrochimica Acta 331, 135385 (2020). (invited). DOI: 10.1016/j.electacta.2019.135385
A. R. Zeradjanin, G. Polymeros, C. Toparli, M. Ledendecker, N. Hodnik, A. Erbe, M. Rohwerder, F. La Mantia, “What is the trigger for hydrogen evolution reaction? – towards electrocatalysis beyond the Sabatier principle”,
Physical Chemistry Chemical Physics 22, 8768-8780 (2020). DOI: 10.1039/D0CP01108H
C. Erinmwingbovo, D. Koster, D. Brogioli, F. La Mantia, “Dynamic Impedance Spectroscopy of Nickel Hexacyanoferrate Thin Films”,
ChemElectroChem 6, 5387-5395 (2019). (invited). DOI: 10.1002/celc.201900805
D. Koster, A. R. Zeradjanin, F. La Mantia, “Extracting the kinetic parameters of the hydrogen evolution reaction at Pt in acidic media by means of dynamic multi-frequency analysis”,
Electrochimica Acta 308, 328-336 (2019). (invited). DOI: 10.1016/j.electacta.2019.04.013
A. Battistel, F. La Mantia, "On the physical definition of dynamic impedance: How to design an optimal strategy for data extraction",
Electrochimica Acta 304, 513-520 (2019). (invited). DOI: 10.1016/j.electacta.2019.03.033
