Free-Energy Analysis of Bubble Nucleation on Electrocatalytic Surfaces
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arXiv
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| Format: | Preprint |
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2026
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| author | Xie, Qingguang Malgaretti, Paolo Aouane, Othmane Thiele, Simon Harting, Jens |
| author_facet | Xie, Qingguang Malgaretti, Paolo Aouane, Othmane Thiele, Simon Harting, Jens |
| contents | Bubble nucleation at catalyst surfaces plays a critical role in the operation of electrolyzers. However, achieving controlled bubble nucleation remains challenging due to limited understanding of the underlying mechanisms. Here, we present a free-energy model that quantitatively predicts both the activation energy and critical nucleus size of bubbles at given supersaturation, temperature, pressure, and surface wettability. We find that the activation energy $ΔG_{max}$ decreases with increasing supersaturation $ζ$, following a power-law scaling of $ΔG_{max} \sim ζ^{-2}$, while the critical nucleus radius $R_c$ scales as $R_c\sim ζ^{-1}$. Our theoretical predictions for the critical nucleus radius of hydrogen, oxygen and nitrogen bubbles are in quantitative agreement with experimental measurements. Finally, we present a simple model that couples gas diffusion and electrochemical reaction kinetics to determine the maximum gas supersaturation at a given current density. Our results advance the fundamental understanding of bubble nucleation at catalyst surfaces and provide practical guidelines for catalyst layer design to improve the performance of electrolyzers. |
| format | Preprint |
| id |
arxiv_https___arxiv_org_abs_2603_17486 |
| institution | arXiv |
| publishDate | 2026 |
| record_format | arxiv |
| spellingShingle | Free-Energy Analysis of Bubble Nucleation on Electrocatalytic Surfaces Xie, Qingguang Malgaretti, Paolo Aouane, Othmane Thiele, Simon Harting, Jens Soft Condensed Matter Chemical Physics Bubble nucleation at catalyst surfaces plays a critical role in the operation of electrolyzers. However, achieving controlled bubble nucleation remains challenging due to limited understanding of the underlying mechanisms. Here, we present a free-energy model that quantitatively predicts both the activation energy and critical nucleus size of bubbles at given supersaturation, temperature, pressure, and surface wettability. We find that the activation energy $ΔG_{max}$ decreases with increasing supersaturation $ζ$, following a power-law scaling of $ΔG_{max} \sim ζ^{-2}$, while the critical nucleus radius $R_c$ scales as $R_c\sim ζ^{-1}$. Our theoretical predictions for the critical nucleus radius of hydrogen, oxygen and nitrogen bubbles are in quantitative agreement with experimental measurements. Finally, we present a simple model that couples gas diffusion and electrochemical reaction kinetics to determine the maximum gas supersaturation at a given current density. Our results advance the fundamental understanding of bubble nucleation at catalyst surfaces and provide practical guidelines for catalyst layer design to improve the performance of electrolyzers. |
| title | Free-Energy Analysis of Bubble Nucleation on Electrocatalytic Surfaces |
| topic | Soft Condensed Matter Chemical Physics |
| url | https://arxiv.org/abs/2603.17486 |