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- Title
The corona of a surface bubble promotes electrochemical reactions.
- Authors
Vogel, Yan B.; Evans, Cameron W.; Belotti, Mattia; Xu, Longkun; Russell, Isabella C.; Yu, Li-Juan; Fung, Alfred K. K.; Hill, Nicholas S.; Darwish, Nadim; Gonçales, Vinicius R.; Coote, Michelle L.; Swaminathan Iyer, K.; Ciampi, Simone
- Abstract
The evolution of gaseous products is a feature common to several electrochemical processes, often resulting in bubbles adhering to the electrode's surface. Adherent bubbles reduce the electrode active area, and are therefore generally treated as electrochemically inert entities. Here, we show that this general assumption does not hold for gas bubbles masking anodes operating in water. By means of imaging electrochemiluminescent systems, and by studying the anisotropy of polymer growth around bubbles, we demonstrate that gas cavities adhering to an electrode surface initiate the oxidation of water-soluble species more effectively than electrode areas free of bubbles. The corona of a bubble accumulates hydroxide anions, unbalanced by cations, a phenomenon which causes the oxidation of hydroxide ions to hydroxyl radicals to occur at potentials at least 0.7 V below redox tabled values. The downhill shift of the hydroxide oxidation at the corona of the bubble is likely to be a general mechanism involved in the initiation of heterogeneous electrochemical reactions in water, and could be harnessed in chemical synthesis. Gas bubbles forming on the surface of an electrode, a phenomenon common to several industrial electrolytic processes, are usually perceived as inert, passivating entities. Here, the authors show that that this general assumption does not hold for gas bubbles masking anodes operating in water.
- Subjects
BUBBLES; MANUFACTURING processes; HYDROXYL group; CHEMICAL synthesis; RADICAL ions; ANODES
- Publication
Nature Communications, 2020, Vol 11, Issue 1, p1
- ISSN
2041-1723
- Publication type
Article
- DOI
10.1038/s41467-020-20186-0