Catalytically driven colloidal patterning and transport

We recently reported the convection and pattern formation of tracers caused by a catalytically generated electric field. The electric field arises due to the heterogeneous electrochemical reduction and oxidation of hydrogen peroxide (H2O2) on silver (Ag) and gold (Au), respectively.1 Here we describe an electrokinetic model, developed in conjunction with experiments, that explains the details of the convection and pattern formation phenomenon. The model also enables the measurement of reaction kinetic parameters that are otherwise difficult to obtain. This quantitative model serves as a platform for the modeling of other catalytic redox systems and systems with broken symmetries.