Electrocatalysis kinetic parameters

Understanding the activity and selectivity properties of electrocatalysts requires the characterization of catalyst surfaces, determination of adsorption characteristics, identification of surface intermediates and of all reaction products and paths, and mechanistic deliberation for complex as well as model reactions. Electrochemical and classical methods for adsorption studies are well documented in the literature (5, 7-9, 25, 24, 373. Here, we shall outline briefly some prominent electrochemical methods and some nonelectrochemical techniques that can provide new insight into electrocatalysis. Electrode kinetic parameters can be determined by potentionstatic methods using the methodology of Section II1,D,3. 

The theory of mediated electrocatalysis has been studied extensively by many authors, and established theories allow mechanistic elucidation and kinetic parameters to be evaluated. An extensive discussion of these appears in Ref. 188. The mediation process can be described by the following reactions ... 

When the electroactive species or an intermediate adsorbs on the electrode surface, the adsorption process usually becomes an integral part of the charge transfer process and therefore cannot be studied without the interference of a faradaic current. In this situation, surface coverages cannot be measured directly and the role of an adsorbate must be inferred from a kinetic investigation. Tafel slopes and reaction orders will deviate substantially from those for a simple electron transfer process when an adsorbed intermediate is involved. Moreover the kinetic parameters, exchange current or standard rate constant, are likely to become functions of the electrode material and even the final products may change. These factors will be discussed further in the section on electrocatalysis (Section 1.4). 

Pathways, mechanisms, and corresponding kinetic parameters of the ORR have been discussed in the section Electrocatalysis of the Oxygen Reduction Reaction at Platinum. In a highly simplified picture, derived originally on the basis of a series of experimental studies by Damjanovic and coworkers (Damjanovic, 1992 Gatrell and MacDougall, 2003 Sepa et al., 1981,1987), it was proposed that the rate-determining reaction step is the initial adsorption. 

The kinetic parameters are slightly dilferent for iron N4-macrocyclic complexes, compared to cobalt complexes. In previous investigation of the electrooxidation of hydrazine catalyzed by FeN4 macrocyclics, the proposed mechanism involved adduct formation between Fe and the hydrazine molecule, prior to the rate determining step [46]. It is evident that the formation of a bond between the metal active site and the hydrazine molecule is a crucial step in electrocatalysis phenomena [47-50]. The electrooxidation of hydrazine on iron N4 macrocyclic complexes results in a Tafel plot with slope of around 0.040 V/decade, instead of 0.060 V/decade. The order in hydrazine is still one, but the order with respect to OH is two, so a reaction mechanism was proposed as follows [44, 45] ... 

In the most generic sense, electrocatalysis means any mechanism that speeds up a half-cell reaction at the electrode surface. Therefore, electrocatalysis encompasses the factors able to modify the kinetic parameters of the... 

In electrocatalysis, in contrast to electrochemical kinetics, the rate of an electrochemical reaction is examined at constant external control parameters so as to reveal the influence of the catalytic electrode (its nature, its surface state) on the rate constants in the kinetic equations. 

The most important parameters in electrocatalysis are the overpotentials, which arise from the losses due to the kinetics at the electrodes and transport losses in the electrolyte. The goal is to have low overpotentials r/i at high currents. In electrocatalysis the current is referred to the electrode surface thus obtaining the current density j. The dependence between overpotentials t] and current density j is described by the Tafel equation (Eq. 9-1)... 

It is well known that the maximum efficiency of electrochemical devices depends upon electrochemical thermodynamics, whereas real efficiency depends upon the electrode kinetics. To understand and control electrode reactions and the related parameters at an electrode and solution interface, a systematic study of the kinetics of electrode reactions is required. When ILs are used as solvents and electrolytes, many oftheelectrochemical processes will be differentandsomenewelectrochemical processes may also occur. For example, the properties of the electrode/electrolyte interface often dictate the sensitivity, specificity, stability, and response time, and thus the success or failure of the electrochemical detection technologies. The IL/electrode interface properties will determine many analytical parameters for sensor applications. Thus, the fundamentals of electrochemical processes in ILs need to be studied in order to have sensor developments as well as many other applications such as electrocatalysis, energy storage, and so on. Based on these insights, this chapter has been arranged into three parts (1) Fundamentals of electrode/electrolyte interfacial processes in ILs (2) Experimental techniques for the characterization of dynamic processes at the interface of electrodes and IL electrolytes and (3) Sensors based on these unique electrode/IL interface properties. And in the end, we wiU summarize the future directions in fundamental and applied study of IL-electrode interface properties for sensor applications. 

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