Bubble findings could unlock better electrode and electrolyzer designs

MIT News  October 8, 2024 The adverse effects of electrochemical bubbles on the performance of gas-evolving electrodes are well known. However, studies on the degree of adhered bubble-caused inactivation, and how inactivation changes during bubble evolution are limited. A team of researchers in the US (MIT, University of Chicago, Argonne National Laboratory) studied electrode inactivation caused by oxygen evolution while using surface engineering to control bubble formation. They found that the inactivation of the entire projected area was poor approximation which led to non-physical results. They analyzed large quantities of experimental data, to show that bubble impacts were small for […]

Unveiling the nanoscale frontier: Innovating with nanoporous model electrodes

Phys.org  June 2, 2023 Researchers in Japan have fabricated the next-generation membrane electrodes for fundamental electrochemical research of amorphous-based porous carbon materials by the uniform carbon coating of anodic aluminum oxide formed on an Al substrate and free from a barrier layer. The conformally carbon-coated layer formed vertically aligned giant carbon nanotubes, and their walls comprised low-crystalline stacked graphene sheets. The diameter and the length of the nanopores could be tuned over a broad range of between 10 to 200 nm and 2 to 90 µm, respectively. Unlike composite electrodes made from other ordered nanoporous carbons, this model electrode exhibited […]