Performance enhancement of electrocatalytic hydrogen evolution through coalescence-induced bubble dynamics

Fuente: arXiv
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Main Authors: Bashkatov, Aleksandr, Park, Sunghak, Demirkır, Çayan, Wood, Jeffery A., Koper, Marc T. M., Lohse, Detlef, Krug, Dominik
Format: Preprint
Published: 2024
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author Bashkatov, Aleksandr
Park, Sunghak
Demirkır, Çayan
Wood, Jeffery A.
Koper, Marc T. M.
Lohse, Detlef
Krug, Dominik
author_facet Bashkatov, Aleksandr
Park, Sunghak
Demirkır, Çayan
Wood, Jeffery A.
Koper, Marc T. M.
Lohse, Detlef
Krug, Dominik
contents The evolution of electrogenerated gas bubbles during water electrolysis can significantly hamper the overall process efficiency. Promoting the departure of electrochemically generated bubbles during (water) electrolysis is therefore beneficial. For a single bubble, a departure from the electrode surface occurs when buoyancy wins over the downward-acting forces (e.g. contact, Marangoni, and electric forces). In this work, the dynamics of a pair of H$_2$ bubbles produced during hydrogen evolution reaction in 0.5 M H$_2$SO$_4$ using dual platinum micro-electrode system is systematically studied by varying the electrode distance and the cathodic potential. By combining high-speed imaging and electrochemical analysis, we demonstrate the importance of bubble-bubble interactions for the departure process. We show that bubble coalescence may lead to substantially earlier bubble departure as compared to buoyancy effects alone, resulting in considerably higher reaction rates at constant potential. However, due to continued mass input and conservation of momentum repeated coalescence events with bubbles close to the electrode may drive departed bubbles back to the surface beyond a critical current, which increases with the electrode spacing. The latter leads to the resumption of bubble growth near the electrode surface, followed by buoyancy-driven departure. While less favourable at small electrode spacing, this configuration proves to be very beneficial at larger separations increasing the mean current up to 2.4 times compared to a single electrode under the conditions explored in this study.
format Preprint
id arxiv_https___arxiv_org_abs_2402_07996
institution arXiv
publishDate 2024
record_format arxiv
spellingShingle Performance enhancement of electrocatalytic hydrogen evolution through coalescence-induced bubble dynamics
Bashkatov, Aleksandr
Park, Sunghak
Demirkır, Çayan
Wood, Jeffery A.
Koper, Marc T. M.
Lohse, Detlef
Krug, Dominik
Fluid Dynamics
Chemical Physics
The evolution of electrogenerated gas bubbles during water electrolysis can significantly hamper the overall process efficiency. Promoting the departure of electrochemically generated bubbles during (water) electrolysis is therefore beneficial. For a single bubble, a departure from the electrode surface occurs when buoyancy wins over the downward-acting forces (e.g. contact, Marangoni, and electric forces). In this work, the dynamics of a pair of H$_2$ bubbles produced during hydrogen evolution reaction in 0.5 M H$_2$SO$_4$ using dual platinum micro-electrode system is systematically studied by varying the electrode distance and the cathodic potential. By combining high-speed imaging and electrochemical analysis, we demonstrate the importance of bubble-bubble interactions for the departure process. We show that bubble coalescence may lead to substantially earlier bubble departure as compared to buoyancy effects alone, resulting in considerably higher reaction rates at constant potential. However, due to continued mass input and conservation of momentum repeated coalescence events with bubbles close to the electrode may drive departed bubbles back to the surface beyond a critical current, which increases with the electrode spacing. The latter leads to the resumption of bubble growth near the electrode surface, followed by buoyancy-driven departure. While less favourable at small electrode spacing, this configuration proves to be very beneficial at larger separations increasing the mean current up to 2.4 times compared to a single electrode under the conditions explored in this study.
title Performance enhancement of electrocatalytic hydrogen evolution through coalescence-induced bubble dynamics
topic Fluid Dynamics
Chemical Physics
url https://arxiv.org/abs/2402.07996