Double layer transfer

Much use has been made of micellar systems in the study of photophysical processes, such as in excited-state quenching by energy transfer or electron transfer (see Refs. 214-218 for examples). In the latter case, ions are involved, and their selective exclusion from the Stem and electrical double layer of charged micelles (see Ref. 219) can have dramatic effects, and ones of potential imfKntance in solar energy conversion systems. 

Within this framework, by considering the physical situation of the electrode double layer, the free energy of activation of an electron transfer reaction can be identified with the reorganization energy of the solvation sheath around the ion. This idea will be carried through in detail for the simple case of the strongly solvated... 

Figure Bl.28.8. Equivalent circuit for a tliree-electrode electrochemical cell. WE, CE and RE represent the working, counter and reference electrodes is the solution resistance, the uncompensated resistance, R the charge-transfer resistance, R the resistance of the reference electrode, the double-layer capacitance and the parasitic loss to tire ground.

For many practically relevant material/environment combinations, thennodynamic stability is not provided, since E > E. Hence, a key consideration is how fast the corrosion reaction proceeds. As for other electrochemical reactions, a variety of factors can influence the rate detennining step. In the most straightforward case the reaction is activation energy controlled i.e. the ion transfer tlrrough the surface Helmholtz double layer involving migration and the adjustment of the hydration sphere to electron uptake or donation is rate detennining. The transition state is... 

Haupt S, Collisi U, Speckmann H D and Strehblow H-H 1985 Specimen transfer from the electrolyte to the UHV in a closed system and some examinations of the double layer on Cu J. Electroanal. Chem. 194 179-90... 

F r d ic Current. The double layer is a leaky capacitor because Faradaic current flows around it. This leaky nature can be represented by a voltage-dependent resistance placed in parallel and called the charge-transfer resistance. Basically, the electrochemical reaction at the electrode surface consists of four thermodynamically defined states, two each on either side of a transition state. These are (11) (/) oxidized species beyond the diffuse double layer and n electrons in the electrode and (2) oxidized species within the outer Helmholtz plane and n electrons in the electrode, on one side of the transition state and (J) reduced species within the outer Helmholtz plane and (4) reduced species beyond the diffuse double layer, on the other. 

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... 

Of an ion through the double layer towards the electrode and inhibits its transfer in the reverse direction or vice versa f< an, anodic process frequently experirtiental vajups of a aib approximately () 5. Tran assivity active behaviour of a metal atipotehtials, more positive than thbise ieading to passivity. 

The charging of the double layer is responsible for the background (residual) current known as the charging current, which limits die detectability of controlled-potential techniques. Such a charging process is nonfaradaic because electrons are not transferred across the electrode-solution interface. It occurs when a potential is applied across the double layer, or when die electrode area or capacitances are changing. Note that the current is the tune derivative of die charge. Hence, when such processes occur, a residual current flows based on die differential equation... 

Moreover, as the reaction progresses, the mass flux of the asymmetrical concentration fluctuation forms a diffusion layer outside the double layer, and nonequilibrium fluctuations of another type occur in the diffusion layer these come from the mass transfer of dissolved metal ions perturbed by the thermal motion of solution particles. A fluctuation of this type was analyzed by Aogaki et a/.78 As shown in Fig. 31, the mass flux fluctuates around its average value, i.e., the fluctuations are both positive and negative, and in this sense have symmetry. This type of fluctuation is... 

If only the three-phase-boundaries (tpb) were electrocatalytically active one would expect Cd values of the order of 10 pF/cm2. The thus measured high Cd values also provide evidence that the charge transfer zone is extended over the entire gas-exposed electrode surface, i.e. that an effective double layer is formed over the entire gas exposed electrode surface. 

If an electrode is brought into contact with an electrolyte solution or a molten electrolyte, the establishment of the electrochemical double layer will be accompanied by a transfer of electrical charge. In a suitable arrangement this charge can be measured as an external current. If the contact is made in a way which adjusts the electrode potential upon immersion exactly to the value of Epzc, the current will be nil. Various methods briefly described below have been devised to detect exactly this situation. 

Consider an atom approaching the surface in Fig. 6.23. If the upper level of the atom originally contained an electron, then upon adsorption it will transfer part of this electron density to the metal and become positively charged. This is the case with alkali atoms. The atom forms a dipole with the positive end towards the outside, which counteracts the double layer that constitutes the surface contribution to the work function of the metal (Fig. 6.13). Thus alkali atoms reduce the work function of a metal surface simply because they all have a high-lying s electron state that tends to donate charge to the metal surface. 

---