The corona of a surface bubble promotes electrochemical reactions

Yan B. Vogel, Cameron W. Evans, Mattia Belotti, Longkun Xu, Isabella C. Russell, Li-Juan Yu, Alfred K. K. Fung, Nicholas S. Hill, Nadim Darwish, Vinicius R. Gonçales, Michelle L. Coote (), K. Swaminathan Iyer () and Simone Ciampi ()
Additional contact information
Yan B. Vogel: Curtin University
Cameron W. Evans: The University of Western Australia
Mattia Belotti: Curtin University
Longkun Xu: Australian National University
Isabella C. Russell: Australian National University
Li-Juan Yu: Australian National University
Alfred K. K. Fung: Australian National University
Nicholas S. Hill: Australian National University
Nadim Darwish: Curtin University
Vinicius R. Gonçales: University of New South Wales
Michelle L. Coote: Australian National University
K. Swaminathan Iyer: The University of Western Australia
Simone Ciampi: Curtin University

Nature Communications, 2020, vol. 11, issue 1, 1-8

Abstract: 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.

Date: 2020
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DOI: 10.1038/s41467-020-20186-0

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