The concerted proton-electron transfer mechanism of proton migration in the electrochemical interface

Guoping Gao; Lin-Wang Wang

doi:10.1016/j.isci.2023.108318

The concerted proton-electron transfer mechanism of proton migration in the electrochemical interface

iScience. 2023 Oct 29;26(11):108318. doi: 10.1016/j.isci.2023.108318. eCollection 2023 Nov 17.

Authors

Guoping Gao¹, Lin-Wang Wang²

Affiliations

¹ MOE Key Laboratory for Non-equilibrium Synthesis and Modulation of Condensed Matter, Shaanxi Province Key Laboratory of Advanced Functional Materials and Mesoscopic Physics, School of Physics, Xi'an Jiaotong University, Xi'an, Shaanxi 710049, China.
² State Key Laboratory of Superlattices and Microstructures, Institute of Semiconductors, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100083, China.

Abstract

The proton migration in the electrochemical interface is a fundamental electrochemical processes in proton involved reactions. We find fractional electron transfer, which is inversely proportional to the distance between the proton and electrode, during the proton migration under constant potential. The electrical energy carried by the transferred charge facilitates the proton to overcome the chemical barrier in the migration pathway, which is accounting for more than half electrical energy in the proton involved reactions. Consequently, less charge transfer and energy exchange take place in the reduction process. Therefore, the proton migration in the electrochemical interface is an essential component of the electrochemical reaction in terms of electron transfer and energy conversation, and are worthy of more attention in the rational design and optimization of electrochemical systems.

Keywords: Computational chemistry; Electrochemistry; Physical chemistry.