Charge overpotential

It is now recognized that solvent stability is a critical issue for Li-02 batteries [2, 15, 97], and furthermore it has been observed that the salt [98-100], carbon support [101, 102], and binder [103] can also react irreversibly. Side reactions can lead to poor cyclability due to the loss of electrol3te and accumulation of side-reaction products [97,102,104]. Furthermore, the oxidation of side-reaction products during recharge can result in high charging overpotentials [101, 102]. 

In electrode kinetics a relationship is sought between the current density and the composition of the electrolyte, surface overpotential, and the electrode material. This microscopic description of the double layer indicates how stmcture and chemistry affect the rate of charge-transfer reactions. Generally in electrode kinetics the double layer is regarded as part of the interface, and a macroscopic relationship is sought. For the general reaction... 

Charge Transport. Side reactions can occur if the current distribution (electrode potential) along an electrode is not uniform. The side reactions can take the form of unwanted by-product formation or localized corrosion of the electrode. The problem of current distribution is addressed by the analysis of charge transport ia cell design. The path of current flow ia a cell is dependent on cell geometry, activation overpotential, concentration overpotential, and conductivity of the electrolyte and electrodes. Three types of current distribution can be described (48) when these factors are analyzed, a nontrivial exercise even for simple geometries (11). 

The activation overpotential, and hence the activation energy, varies exponentially with the rate of charge transfer per unit area of electrode surface, as defined by the well-known Tafel equation... 

Resistance overpotential i/r Since in corrosion the resistance of the metallic path for charge transfer is negligible, resistance overpotential ijr is determined by factors associated with the solution or with the metal surface. Thus resistance overpotential may be defined as... 

Stern and Geary on the basis of a detailed analysis of the polarisation curves of the anodic and cathodic reactions involved in the corrosion of a metal, and on the assumption that both reactions were charge-transfer controlled (transport overpotential negligible) and that the /R drop involved in determining the potential was negligible, derived the expression... 

The present Section, which provides an outline of selected relevant topics in electrochemistry, is intended primarily as an introduction to aqueous corrosion for those readers whose basic training has not involved a study of electrochemistry. The scope of electrochemistry is enormous and cannot be treated adequately here, but there are now a number of excellent books on the subject, and it is hoped that this outline will serve to stimulate further study. The topics selected are as follows a) the nature of the electrified interface between the metal and the solution, (b) adsorption, (c) transfer of charge across the interface under equilibrium and non-equilibrium conditions, d) overpotential and the rate of an electrode reaction and (e) the hydrogen evolution reaction and hydrogen absorption by ferrous alloys. For reasons of space a number of important topics, such as the electrochemistry of electrolyte solutions, have been omitted. 

In the chemical desorption step the adsorbed H atoms diffuse about on the metal surface, either by threading their way through adsorbed water molecules or by pushing them aside, until two collide to form an Hj molecule which escapes into the solution. This chemical step will be independent of overpotential, since charge transfer is not involved, and the rate will be proportional to the concentration or coverage of adsorbed H,, (see equation 20.39) and may occur at coverages that range from very small to almost complete. 

If chemical desorption is rate determining, the rate will be independent of overpotential since no charge transfer occurs in this step, and... 

Charge-transfer overpotential. The charge-transfer overpotential is caused by... 

Reaction overpotential. Both overpotentials mentioned above are normally of higher importance than the reaction overpotential. It may happen sometimes, however, that other phenomena, which occur in the electrolyte or during electrode processes, such as adsorption and desorption, are the speed-limiting factors. Crystallization overpotential. This exists as a result of the inhibited intercalation of metal ions into their lattice. This process is of fundamental importance when secondary batteries are charged, especially during metal deposition on the negative side. 

Corresponding to the charge in the potential of single electrodes which is related to their different overpotentials, a shift in the overall cell voltage is observed. Moreover, an increasing cell temperature can be noticed. Besides Joule-effect heat losses Wj, caused by voltage drops due to the internal resistance Rt (electrolyte, contact to the electrodes, etc.) of the cell, thermal losses WK (related to overpotentials) are the reason for this phenomenon. 

Taking into account that the amount of charge consumed during relaxation at a given overpotential under pure conformational relaxation processes is proportional to the relaxation area of the oxidized regions ... 

Taking into account the variation in the oxidized area as a function of the overpotential, and the counter-ion flows, the charge consumed during the potential sweep in those regions where the structure was previously opened under conformational relaxation control, is given by... 

The activation overpotential Tiac,w is due to slow charge transfer reactions at the electrode-electrolyte interface and is related to current via the Butler-Volmer equation (4.7). A slow chemical reaction (e.g. adsorption, desorption, spillover) preceding or following the charge-transfer step can also contribute to the development of activation overpotential. 

The concentration overpotential T]C0nC)W is due to slow mass transfer of reactants and/or products involved in the charge-transfer reaction. There... 

Figure 5.19. The physical origin of NEMCA When a metal counter electrode (C) is used in conjunction with a galvanostat (G) to supply or remove ions [O2 for the doped Zr02 (a), Na+ for P"-A1203 (b)] to or from the polarizable solid electrolyte/catalyst (or working electrode, W) interface, backspillover ions [O6 in (a), Na5+ in (b)] together with their compensating charge in the metal are produced or consumed at the tpb between the three phases solid electrolyte/catalyst/gas. This causes an increase (right) or decrease (left) in the work function of the gas-exposed catalyst surface. In all cases AO = eAUWR where AUWr is the overpotential measured between the catalyst and the reference electrode (R).

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