Scientific Achievement
This study is a first step to evaluate rate determining processes on the electrochemical activity of RAPs. Using different electrochemical techniques we determined the presence of several preceding chemical steps. We also studied how the resulting RAP film mediates the charge transfer process and affects the electrochemical behavior of RAPs.
Significance and Impact
Understanding how to balance the rates of charge transfer and charge diffusion will be essential to developing RAPs capable of providing high power density in flow battery applications.
Research Details
- The pieces of information garnered from RDE and SECM measurements are congruent with each other, offering diverse experimental approaches to reliably study the kinetics of RAPs.
- Estimations of the charge transfer kinetics and charge diffusion on the RAPs systems strongly suggested independence from molecular weight in the range measured.
- The charge transfer mechanisms on RAPs suggested preceding chemical steps that significantly impacted their voltammetric and SECM behavior.
Work performed at the Department of Chemistry, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign (JCESR partner) by M. Burgess, K. Hernández-Burgos, B. H. Simpson, T. Lichtenstein, S. Avetian, G. Nagarjuna, K. J. Cheng, J. S. Moore, and J. Rodríguez-López, Journal of The Electrochemical Society, 2016, 163, H3006-H3013