Theory of Electro-Ionic Perturbations at Supported Electrocatalyst Nanoparticles
Materials Science
2025-02-27 v1 Mesoscale and Nanoscale Physics
Abstract
Nanoscopic heterogeneities in composition and structure are quintessential for the properties of electrocatalyst materials. Here, we present a semiclassical model to study the electrochemical properties of supported electrocatalyst nanoparticles (NP). The model captures the correlated electronic and ionic equilibration across NP, support, and electrolyte. It reveals peculiar trends in surface charging of the supported NP, validated by comparison with first-principles calculations. Support-induced perturbations in electronic and ionic charge densities at the NP's active surface manifest as distinct potentials of zero local electronic and ionic charges that could differ by more than 0.5 V in the studied system.
Cite
@article{arxiv.2502.19212,
title = {Theory of Electro-Ionic Perturbations at Supported Electrocatalyst Nanoparticles},
author = {Yufan Zhang and Tobias Binninger and Jun Huang and Michael Eikerling},
journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:2502.19212},
year = {2025}
}