Electron Transfer in Microemulsion-Based Electrolytes

Jing Peng, Nelly M. Cantillo, K. Mc Kensie Nelms, Lacey S. Roberts, Gabriel Goenaga, Adam Imel, Brian Andrew Barth, Mark Dadmun, Luke Heroux, Douglas G. Hayes, Thomas Zawodzinski

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

27 Scopus citations

Abstract

The use of flowing electrochemical reactors, for example, in redox flow batteries and in various electrosynthesis processes, is increasing. This technology has the potential to be of central significance in the increased deployment of renewable electricity for carbon-neutral processes. A key element of optimizing efficiency of electrochemical reactors is the combination of high solution conductivity and reagent solubility. Here, we show a substantial rate of charge transfer for an electrochemical reaction occurring in a microemulsion containing electroactive material is loaded inside the nonpolar (toluene) subphase of the microemulsion. The measured rate constant translates to an exchange current density comparable to that in redox flow batteries. The rate could be controlled by the surfactant, which maintains partitioning of reactants and products by forming an interfacial region with ions in the aqueous phase in close proximity. The hypothesized mechanism is evocative of membrane-bound enzymatic reactions. Achieving sufficient rates of electrochemical reaction is the product of an effort designed to establish a reaction condition that meets the requirements of electrochemical reactors using microemulsions to realize a separation of conducting and reactive elements of the solution, opening a door to the broad use of microemulsions to effect controlled electrochemical reactions as steps in more complex processes.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)40213-40219
Number of pages7
JournalACS Applied Materials and Interfaces
Volume12
Issue number36
DOIs
StatePublished - Sep 9 2020

Funding

This work was supported as part of the Breakthrough Electrolytes for Energy Storage (BEES), an Energy Frontier Research Center funded by the U.S. Department of Energy, Office of Science, Basic Energy Sciences under Award # DE-SC0019409.

Keywords

  • cyclic voltammetry
  • electrochemistry
  • electrolyte
  • microemulsion
  • redox flow battery

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