Work

Interpreting Concentration and Activation Overpotentials in Electrochemical Systems: A Critical Discussion

Year: 2025

Type: article

Abstract: In electrochemical systems, it is often desirable to separately quantify the effect of mass transferand reaction kinetics on the cell potential. Respective concentration (mass transfer) and activation (reaction kinetics) overpotentials are frequently defined in different ways. In this work,we discuss the implications of these alternative definitions. In particular, we emphasize that thedifferent definitions for activation and concentration overpotential: (i) cannot be chosen independently to additively partition the cell potential, (ii) can lead to significantly different values,and (iii) result in different meanings of the respective overpotentials. If not applied carefully,they can thus easily result in misinterpretations.

Source: Journal of The Electrochemical Society

DOI: 10.1149/1945-7111/adc76c

Authors: J. Raphael Seidenberg, Alexander Mitsos, Dominik Bongartz

Language: English

Topic: Electrocatalysts for Energy Conversion

Subfield: Renewable Energy, Sustainability and the Environment

Field: Energy

Domain: Physical Sciences

Open Access status: hybrid

Estimated APC paid: $1,950

Funder: Bundesministerium für Bildung und Forschung

Awards: G6300594882, Verbundvorhaben H2Giga_QT1.1: PrometH2eus - Projektverbund zur optimierten Materialentwicklung für die technische H2-Erzeugung durch verbesserte Sauerstoffelektroden