Development of rotating liquid membrane disk electrode and rotating liquid membrane ring-liquid membrane disk electrode and evaluation of characteristics of ion transfer reactions at the rotating aqueous/organic solution interface.

A liquid membrane disk electrode, LMDE, and a liquid membrane ring-liquid membrane disk electrode, LMRE-LMDE, were developed by placing a gelled polyvinyl chloride thin membrane impregnated with 2-nitrophenyl octyl ether, NPOE-LM, on the surface of a glassy carbon, GC, disk or ring electrode. The voltammogram for the ion transfer at the interface between an aqueous solution, W, and NPOE-LM was recorded by setting the developed electrode in W and rotating at a rate, omega, between 0 and 4000 rpm. The sensitivity of the ion-transfer current at the WINPOE-LM interface, I, was enhanced to be more than 100 times better than that at the WINPOE (solution) interface when LMDE was rotated at omega higher than 200 rpm. The reversibility of the ion transfer reaction could be evaluated based on the dependence of I on omega of LMDE, and the reaction product at LMDE could be identified at LMRE when the rotating LMRE-LMDE system was adopted.     

Discrete electrostatic charge transfer by the electrophoresis of a charged droplet in a dielectric liquid

We have experimentally investigated the electrostatic charging of a water droplet on an electrified electrode surface to explain the detailed inductive charging processes and use them for the detection of droplet position in a lab-on-a-chip system. The periodic bouncing motion of a droplet between two planar electrodes has been examined by using a high-resolution electrometer and an image analysis method. We have found that this charging process consists of three steps. The first step is inductive charge accumulation on the opposite electrode by the charge of a droplet. This induction process occurs while the droplet approaches the electrode, and it produces an induction current signal at the electrometer. The second step is the discharging of the droplet by the accumulated induced charge at the moment of contact. For this second step, there is no charge-transfer detection at the electrometer. The third step is the charging of the neutralized droplet to a certain charged state while the droplet is in contact with the electrode. The charge transfer of the third step is detected as the pulse-type signal of an electrometer. The second and third steps occur simultaneously and rapidly. We have found that the induction current by the movement of a charged droplet can be accurately used to measure the charge of the droplet and can also be used to monitor the position of a droplet under actuation. The implications of the current findings for understanding and measuring the charging process are discussed.     

Charge renormalization of charged spheres based on thermodynamic properties

At strong electrostatic coupling, counterions are accumulated in the vicinity of the surface of the charged particle with intrinsic charge Z. In order to explain the behavior of highly charged particles, effective charge Z(*) is therefore invoked in the models based on Debye-Huckel approximation, such as the Derjaguin-Landau-Verwey-Overbeek potential. For a salt-free colloidal suspension, we perform Monte Carlo simulations to obtain various thermodynamic properties omega in a spherical Wigner-Seitz cell. The effect of dielectric discontinuity is examined. We show that at the same particle volume fraction, counterions around a highly charged sphere with Z may display the same value of omega as those around a weakly charged sphere with Z(*), i.e., omega(Z)=omega(Z(*)). There exists a maximally attainable value of omega at which Z=Z(*). Defining Z(*) as the effective charge, we find that the effective charge passes through a maximum and declines again due to ion-ion correlation as the number of counterions is increased. The effective charge is even smaller if one adopts the Debye-Huckel expression omega(DH). Our results suggest that charge renormalization can be performed by chemical potential, which may be observed in osmotic pressure measurements.     

Vertical motion of a charged colloidal particle near an AC polarized electrode with a nonuniform potential distribution: theory and experimental evidence

Electroosmotic flow in the vicinity of a colloidal particle suspended over an electrode accounts for observed changes in the average height of the particle when the electrode passes alternating current at 100 Hz. The main findings are (1) electroosmotic flow provides sufficient force to move the particle and (2) a phase shift between the purely electrical force on the particle and the particle's motion provides evidence of an E2 force acting on the particle. The electroosmotic force in this case arises from the boundary condition applied when faradaic reactions occur on the electrode. The presence of a potential-dependent electrode reaction moves the likely distribution of electrical current at the electrode surface toward uniform current density around the particle. In the presence of a particle the uniform current density is associated with a nonuniform potential; thus, the electric field around the particle has a nonzero radial component along the electrode surface, which interacts with unbalanced charge in the diffuse double layer on the electrode to create a flow pattern and impose an electroosmotic-flow-based force on the particle. Numerical solutions are presented for these additional height-dependent forces on the particle as a function of the current distribution on the electrode and for the time-dependent probability density of a charged colloidal particle near a planar electrode with a nonuniform electrical potential boundary condition. The electrical potential distribution on the electrode, combined with a phase difference between the electric field in solution and the electrode potential, can account for the experimentally observed motion of particles in ac electric fields in the frequency range from approximately 10 to 200 Hz.     

双向脉冲充电法对锂枝晶生成的抑制

采用双向脉冲电流充电方法取代传统的直流电充电方法, 研究了金属锂电极在有机电解液1 mol•L−1 LiPF6/碳酸乙烯酯(EC):二甲基碳酸脂(DMC)(1:1, V/V)中的充电过程. 锂电极的表面变化通过原位显微镜观测和交流阻抗谱进行检测. 原位显微镜观测结果显示, 在直流充电时锂电极上明显地出现了枝晶, 而在双向脉冲充电时, 枝晶的产生和生长受到了抑制. 交流阻抗谱结果显示在双向脉冲充电下, 锂电极的表面积增长较直流充电时缓慢. 这种抑制枝晶生长, 稳定锂沉积的新充电方法有望用于锂阳极二次电池.     

Electrokinetic Separation Methods

Electrophoresis is the transport of dissolved molecules or suspended particles in a homogeneous polar liquid (such as water) under the influence of an electric field. Most molecules or particles acquire a surface electric charge when dissolved or suspended in buffered water (or other polar liquids), owing to ionization or adsorption of ions present in the water. The sign of the surface charge of molecules or particles determines whether they will migrate towards the positive or the negative electrode of the applied electric field, and the velocity of migration depends on the surface potential of the molecules or particles, as well as on the potential of the electric field.     

MH电极中氢扩散系数的测定及其应用

利用恒流放电法测定了金属氢化物(MH)电极中氢原子扩散系数的平均值. 通过恒电位法测定了MH电极中氢原子的扩散系数与其荷电态(SOC)的关系. 根据MH电极模型可知, 增大氢原子扩散系数或减小储氢合金粒径均能提高MH电极的快速充电性能, 并能计算出MH电极在不同的初始荷电态、不同充电倍率下, 表面氢原子浓度达到最大值所需的时间.     

Turbulent Electrochemical Noise: A Theoretical Analysis in the Frequency–Potential Coordinates

Spectral density of random alternating current, which is induced by turbulent pulsations of electrolyte velocity in a cell, is theoretically analyzed within the Ershler–Randles charge transfer model in the Nernst diffusion layer approximation. The effect of electrode potential on the spectral current density is analyzed at various frequencies of hydrodynamic pulsations.     

High-speed carbon nanotube actuators based on an oxidation/reduction reaction

Actuators with a high-speed response under a high-frequency (more than 100 Hz) applied square-wave voltage of ±2 V have been developed with an electrode composed of millimeter-long single-walled carbon nanotubes synthesized by the "supergrowth method" (SG-SWNTs) and ionic liquids (ILs). Detailed studies concerning induced electric current and transferred charge in the electrode as well as cyclic voltammetric studies of the electrode revealed that the high-speed response originates from the electric current generated by an oxidation/reduction (redox) reaction in addition to electric double-layer charging. The contribution of the redox reactions of SG-SWNTs to the actuation is sensitive to the presence of supporting polymers, the thickness of the electrolyte, and the amplitude of the applied voltage.     

全钒液流电池性能及其电极材料的研究

应用循环伏安法研究石墨板、柔性石墨和PAN基碳布经双氧水处理又经热处理后在钒盐硫酸溶液中的电化学性能,并以处理过的上述电极组装成流动型钒电池.结果表明,电极经处理,其表面反应可逆性增强,峰电流增大,电化学性能明显得到提高.用处理过的石墨电极组装的钒电池其充电电流可达20 mA/cm2以上,放电电流达15 mA/cm2.扫描电镜显示,石墨电极经处理后表层结构发生改变,比表面积增大.     

Electrically driven flow near a colloidal particle close to an electrode with a Faradaic current

To elucidate the nature of processes involved in electrically driven particle aggregation in steady fields, flows near a charged spherical colloidal particle next to an electrode were studied. Electrical body forces in diffuse layers near the electrode and the particle surface drive an axisymmetric flow with two components. One is electroosmotic flow (EOF) driven by the action of the applied field on the equilibrium diffuse charge layer near the particle. The other is electrohydrodynamic (EHD) flow arising from the action of the applied field on charge induced in the electrode polarization layer. The EOF component is proportional to the current density and the particle surface (zeta) potential, whereas our scaling analysis shows that the EHD component scales as the product of the current density and applied potential. Under certain conditions, both flows are directed toward the particle, and a superposition of flows from two nearby particles provides a mechanism for aggregation. Analytical calculations of the two flow fields in the limits of infinitesimal double layers and slowly varying current indicate that the EOF and EHD flow are of comparable magnitude near the particle whereas in the far field the EHD flow along the electrode is predominant. Moreover, the dependence of EHD flow on the applied potential provides a possible explanation for the increased variability in aggregation velocities observed at higher field strengths.     

Ionic conduction and electrode polarization in a doped nonpolar liquid

Electrical current versus potential relationships were measured for solutions of dodecane containing the charge control agent poly(isobutylene succinimide) (PIBS) at various concentrations. Both one-dimensional (parallel planar electrodes) and two-dimensional (strip electrodes) fields were studied. The initial current was proportional to the applied voltage for both electrode configurations. Using the initial decay rate of the current (t < 0.5 s) in the planar electrode cell and the Gouy-Chapman model for electrode polarization, we determined the diffusion coefficient of the charge carriers (micelles) in the solution, from which we calculated their effective radius to be 10 nm. The constancy of the carrier radius over a 7-fold change in PIBS concentration, along with the proportionality between conductivity and concentration, supports the hypothesis that the charged species result from the interactions between two micelles. The experimentally determined geometric factor (cell constant) relating current to applied potential at time zero for the strip electrode cell agrees with the value predicted from the solution of Laplace's equation for the electrical potential in this system. The intermediate-time (0.5-3.0 s) decay rate of current was faster than predicted from the classical Gouy-Chapman theory of the double layer, possibly because of volume fraction effects in the double layer. The very long-time (minutes to hours) residual current that we observed is not explained, but we suspect that some charge transfer across the electrode must have occurred because there was insufficient ion capacity (i.e., amount of PIBS) in the solution to account for the total charge transferred through the cell.     

Detection of flexoelectric effect from 4-heptyloxy-4'-cyanobiphenyl monolayers at an air-water interface by Maxwell displacement current and optical second harmonic generation

The flexoelectric effect of 4-heptyloxy-4'-cyanobiphenyl (7OCB) monolayers at the air-water interface is studied by Maxwell displacement current (MDC) and optical second harmonic generation measurements. Though MDC was expected to increase during the compression of 7OCB monolayers in L2L2' phase from the MDC theory developed previously, decrease of MDC was detected in these phases. This abnormalous phenomenon is found to be due to the quench of flexoelectric effect by the flow orientation of monolayers.     

Photoassisted charge behavior of hydrogen storage alloy-TiO2/Pt electrodes

The photoassisted charge behavior of hydrogen storage alloy modified with TiO2/Pt nanocomposites (HSA-TiO2/Pt electrode) was investigated. The HSA-TiO2/Pt electrode can be photocharged under current. The mechanism of photoassisted behavior of the HSA-TiO2/Pt electrode was explained through the results of cyclic voltammogram and impedance measurements of the HSA-TiO2/Pt electrode. Upon illumination, the photogenerated electrons can charge the electrode, but the photogenerated holes may oxidize the hydrogen storage alloy to form a layer of metal oxide. Because the current could keep the electrode active, the H atoms produced by photogenerated electrons diffused to the hydrogen storage alloy and a metal hydride formed. The electrode delivered a higher discharge capacity due to the assistance of photocharge.     

Direct measurement of colloidal particle rotation and field dependence in alternating current electrohydrodynamic flows

We have measured the influence of both applied alternating current (AC) field strength and frequency on the electrohydrodynamic (EH) flows present in colloidal systems near an electrode surface. The effect of the flows is visualized by the rotation of the colloids, fluorescently labeled by a novel technique involving EH-driven aggregation of much smaller tracer colloids to the surface of the larger colloids. Our results show an E2 dependence of these flows, consistent with an induced charge mechanism for effective colloidal interactions. We have also observed a crossover in frequency that suggests a change in the origin of the induced charge, consistent with predictions from available theory. The EH flows appear to be hydrodynamically screened inside clusters, as evidenced by the lack of rotation of interior colloids and the cluster-size independent rotation rate of colloids on the boundary.     

Collective excitations in an ionic liquid

Collective dynamics in a representative model of ionic liquids, namely, 1-butyl-3-methylimidazolium chloride, have been revealed by molecular dynamics simulation. Dispersion of energy excitation, omega versus k, of longitudinal acoustic (LA) and transverse acoustic (TA) modes was obtained in the wave vector range 0.17 < k < 1.40 Angstroms(-1), which encompasses the main peak of the static structure factor S(k). Linear dispersion of acoustic modes is observed up to k approximately 0.7 Angstroms(-1). Due to mixing between LA and TA modes, LA spectra display transverselike component, and vice versa. Due to anisotropy in short-time ionic dynamics, acoustic modes achieve distinct limiting omega values at high k when the cation displacement is projected either along the plane or perpendicular to the plane of the imidazolium ring. In charge current spectra, branch with negative dispersion of omega versus k is a signature of optic modes in the simulated ionic liquid. Conductivity kappa estimated by using ionic diffusion coefficients in the Nernst-Einstein equation is higher than the actual kappa calculated by integrating the charge current correlation function. From TA spectra, a wave vector dependent viscosity eta(k) has been evaluated, whose low-k limit gives eta in reasonable agreement with experimental data.     

Allowing for the Concentration Polarization when Analyzing Experimental Data for Electrode Processes Involving an Ensemble of Reactants

It is shown that the procedure used for calculating kinetic currents from mixed ones must be corrected to allow for the fact that the contributions made by reactants of different charges depend on the electrode potential (charge) during parallel electrochemical conversions. Relations for relevant corrections are derived within a stationary-diffusion model. For illustration, estimates are given for parallel reduction of the peroxodisulfate anion and its associate with the sodium cation. This example demonstrates that, with the correction under discussion ignored, the average charge of the reactant-anion in the bulk solution always happens to be somewhat overrated (by the absolute value), when determined from a dependence of the kinetic current on the supporting-electrolyte concentration. The tendency of reactant's average charge to depend on the electrode charge observed earlier is explained.     

Analysis of the dielectric permittivity of suspensions by means of the logarithmic derivative of its real part

Measurement of the dielectric permittivity of colloidal suspensions in the kilohertz frequency range (the so-called low-frequency dielectric dispersion) is a promising tool for the electrokinetic characterization of colloids. However, this technique is less used than would be desirable because of the difficulties associated with the measurements, the most important of which is the electrode polarization (EP). Recently (M. Wübbenhorst and J. Van Turnhout, Dielectrics Newsl. November (2000)) a method was proposed that appears capable of separating the unwanted electrode effects from the double-layer relaxation that we are interested in. The method, based on the logarithmic derivative of raw epsilon'(omega) data (epsilon'(omega) is the real part of the permittivity of the suspension for a frequency omega of the applied AC field), is first checked against the well-known theory of the AC permittivity of colloidal suspensions developed by DeLacey and White (E. H. B. DeLacey and L. R. White, J. Chem. Soc. Faraday Trans. 277, 2007 (1981)). We show that the derivative epsilon'(D)(omega)=-(pi/2)(partial differential epsilon'/partial differential ln omega) gives an excellent representation of the true imaginary part of the permittivity, epsilon'(omega). The technique is then applied to experimental data of the dielectric constant of polystyrene and ethylcellulose suspensions. We found that epsilon'(D) displays two separated behaviors when plotted against log omega in the frequency range 100 Hz-1 MHz: a monotonous decrease (associated with EP) followed by an absorption peak (associated with the double-layer relaxation, or alpha-relaxation). Interestingly, they are separated enough to make it possible to easily find the characteristic frequency of the alpha-relaxation. Fitting a relaxation function to epsilon'(D)(omega) after eliminating the part due to EP, we could calculate the real part epsilon'(omega) and compare it to the DeLacey and White (DW) theoretical predictions. A significantly better agreement between DW calculations and experimental epsilon'(omega) data is obtained when the logarithmic derivative method is used, as compared to the classical electrode-separation techniques.     

液态Wood合金在NaOH电解质溶液中的电毛细变形现象

本文研究了液态Wood合金在氢氧化钠电解质溶液中,通过施加外电场,进而诱发液态金属电毛细变形的现象. 当石墨电极伸入金属液滴内部时,通电后在金属表面发生的电极反应,促使金属表面形成氧化膜或去除氧化膜. 由于氧化膜与液态金属的表面张力存在巨大差异,通电后电极极性的变化可实现金属液滴形状的快速可逆变形.在液态金属与电解质溶液之间形成的双电子层中,当两侧聚集同极性电荷时将降低界面张力.为维持通电后体系自由能最小,将迫使液体金属增大与溶液之间的界面面积,在宏观上表现为液体金属的变形,由于液态金属与氢氧化钠反应后自身携带负电荷,在电场力的作用下可有效地驱动液态金属在电解质溶液中的运动.