Engineered surfaces for enhanced control of electrochemical bubbles

Abstract

In this thesis, we investigate the impact of rationally designing a micro-textured electrode to enhance the release of electrochemically generated bubbles from its surface. By systematically studying the effects of altering the microscale surface texture of an electrode, we are able to demonstrate the ability for the geometry of an electrode's surface to enhance the release of bubbles from the surface, therefore enhancing the electrochemical output for a gas-evolving reaction. To this end, we fabricate a variety of micro textures and perform tests to show how the geometry of the surface can be used to enhance the release of bubbles from the electrode. From this, we are able to demonstrate that there is an optimal microtexture that maximizes the electrochemical output for a given condition. As a result, this thesis presents a novel approach to rationally design the surfaces of electrochemical electrodes to move towards 'bubble-free' surfaces for a variety of applications..