Interfacial electrochemical processes

M. R. Philpott, J. N. Glosli. Molecular dynamics simulation of interfacial electrochemical processes electric double layer screening. In G. Jerkiewicz, M. P. Soriaga, K. Uosaki, A. Wieckowski, eds. Solid Liquid Electrochemical Interfaces, Vol. 656 of ACS Symposium Series. Washington ACS, 1997, Chap. 2, pp. 13-30. 

Oxygen may interfere with interfacial electrochemical processes when not completely removed (purged) from the electrolyte solution... 

As demonstrated by the example of the spindle capillary, the development of the dropping electrode is far from exhausted. By its origin it is predestined for research of interfacial electrochemical processes, where it can render invaluable services in analyzing or effectuating complex reactions at molecular or macro-... 

Water is the most important solvent in electrochemistry. The adsorption configuration and orientation of water molecules within the electrochemical double layer can significantly affect interfacial electrochemical processes, and therefore the use of SERS to investigate surface water is both interesting and promising. However, two obstacles emerged when obtaining the SERS spectra of water (i) water is a poor Raman scatterer with a very small cross-section and (ii) bulk water in solution ( 55 M concentration) makes a tremendous contribution to the overall spectra, as compared to surface water. 

Molecular Dynamics Simulation of Interfacial Electrochemical Processes Electric Double Layer Screening... 

The status of computer simulations of electric double layers is briefly summarized and a road map for solving the important problems in the atomic scale simulation of interfacial electrochemical processes is proposed. As examples efforts to simulate screening in electric double layers are described. Molecular dynamics simulations on systems about 4 nm thick, containing up to 1600 water molecules and NaQ at IM to 3M concentration, displayed the main features of double layers at charged metal surfaces including bulk electrolyte zone, diffuse ionic layer that screens the charge on the electrode and a layer of oriented water next to the surface. 

The recovery of petroleum from sandstone and the release of kerogen from oil shale and tar sands both depend strongly on the microstmcture and surface properties of these porous media. The interfacial properties of complex liquid agents—mixtures of polymers and surfactants—are critical to viscosity control in tertiary oil recovery and to the comminution of minerals and coal. The corrosion and wear of mechanical parts are influenced by the composition and stmcture of metal surfaces, as well as by the interaction of lubricants with these surfaces. Microstmcture and surface properties are vitally important to both the performance of electrodes in electrochemical processes and the effectiveness of catalysts. Advances in synthetic chemistry are opening the door to the design of zeolites and layered compounds with tightly specified properties to provide the desired catalytic activity and separation selectivity. 

The ITIES with an adsorbed monolayer of surfactant has been studied as a model system of the interface between microphases in a bicontinuous microemulsion [39]. This latter system has important applications in electrochemical synthesis and catalysis [88-92]. Quantitative measurements of the kinetics of electrochemical processes in microemulsions are difficult to perform directly, due to uncertainties in the area over which the organic and aqueous reactants contact. The SECM feedback mode allowed the rate of catalytic reduction of tra 5-l,2-dibromocyclohexane in benzonitrile by the Co(I) form of vitamin B12, generated electrochemically in an aqueous phase to be measured as a function of interfacial potential drop and adsorbed surfactants [39]. It was found that the reaction at the ITIES could not be interpreted as a simple second-order process. In the absence of surfactant at the ITIES the overall rate of the interfacial reaction was virtually independent of the potential drop across the interface and a similar rate constant was obtained when a cationic surfactant (didodecyldimethylammonium bromide) was adsorbed at the ITIES. In contrast a threefold decrease in the rate constant was observed when an anionic surfactant (dihexadecyl phosphate) was used. 

M. Senda, T. Kakiuchi, T. Osakai, and T. Kakutani, in The Interfacial Structure and Electrochemical Processes at the Boundary Between Two Immiscible Liquids (V. E. Kazarinov, ed.), Springer-Verlag, Berlin, Heidelberg, 1987, pp. 107-121. 

In looking towards the 21st Century, I predict that interfacial photochemical and electrochemical processes at designed and integrated chemical systems will play an important role in the development of energy conversion and other devices. 

Among electrode processes with at least one charge transfer step, several different types of reaction can be found. The simplest interfacial electrochemical reactions are the exchange of electrons across the electrochemical interface by flipping oxidation states of transition metal ions in the electrolyte adjacent to the electrode surface. The electrode in this case is merely the source or sink of electrons, uptaking electrons from the reduced species and releasing them to the oxidized redox species in solution. Examples of simple electron transfer reactions are... 

In the previous section, we demonstrated the micrometer droplet size dependence of the ET rate across a microdroplet/water interface. Beside ET reactions, interfacial mass transfer (MT) processes are also expected to depend on the droplet size. MT of ions across a polarized liquid/liquid interface have been studied by various electrochemical techniques [9-15,87], However, the techniques are disadvantageous to obtain an inside look at MT across a microspherical liquid/liquid interface, since the shape of the spherical interface varies by the change in an interfacial tension during electrochemical measurements. Direct measurements of single droplets possessing a nonpolarized liquid/liquid interface are necessary to elucidate the interfacial MT processes. On the basis of the laser trapping-electrochemistry technique, we discuss MT processes of ferrocene derivatives (FeCp-X) across a micro-oil-droplet/water interface in detail and demonstrate a droplet size dependence of the MT rate. 

Our interest in SERS stemmed from our research activities concerned with establishing connections between the molecular structure of electrode interfaces and electrochemical reactivity. A current objective of our group is to employ SERS as a molecular probe of adsorbate-surface interactions to systems of relevance to electrochemical processes, and to examine the interfacial molecular changes brought about by electrochemical reactions. The combination of SERS and conventional electrochemical techniques can in principle yield a detailed picture of interfacial processes since the latter provides a sensitive monitor of the electron transfer and electronic redistributions associated with the surface molecular changes probed by the former. Although few such applications of SERS have been reported so far the approaches appear to have considerable promise. 

---