Search Results

Now showing 1 - 3 of 3
  • Item
    Thermodynamic models for a concentration and electric field dependent susceptibility in liquid electrolytes
    (Berlin : Weierstraß-Institut für Angewandte Analysis und Stochastik, 2021) Landstorfer, Manuel; Müller, Rüdiger
    The dielectric susceptibility $chi$ is an elementary quantity of the electrochemical double layer and the associated Poisson equation. While most often $chi$ is treated as a material constant, its dependency on the salt concentration in liquid electrolytes is demonstrated by various bulk electrolyte experiments. This is usually referred to as dielectric decrement. Further, it is theoretically well accepted that the susceptibility declines for large electric fields. This effect is frequently termed dielectric saturation. We analyze the impact of a variable susceptibility in terms of species concentrations and electric fields based on non-equilibrium thermodynamics. This reveals some non-obvious generalizations compared to the case of a constant susceptibility. In particular the consistent coupling of the Poisson equation, the momentum balance and the chemical potentials functions are of ultimate importance. In a numerical study, we systematically analyze the effects of a concentration and field dependent susceptibility on the double layer of a planar electrode electrolyte interface. We compute the differential capacitance and the spatial structure of the electric potential, solvent concentration and ionic distribution for various non-constant models of $chi$.
  • Item
    Modeling polycrystalline electrode-electrolyte interfaces: The differential capacitance
    (Berlin : Weierstraß-Institut für Angewandte Analysis und Stochastik, 2019) Fuhrmann, Jürgen; Landstorfer, Manuel; Müller, Rüdiger
    We present and analyze a model for polycrystalline electrode surfaces based on an improved continuum model that takes finite ion size and solvation into account. The numerical simulation of finite size facet patterns allows to study two limiting cases: While for facet size diameter $d^facet to 0$ we get the typical capacitance of a spatially homogeneous but possible amorphous or liquid surface, in the limit $L^Debye << d^facet$ , an ensemble of non-interacting single crystal surfaces is approached. Already for moderate size of the facet diameters, the capacitance is remarkably well approximated by the classical approach of adding the single crystal capacities of the contributing facets weighted by their respective surface fraction. As a consequence, the potential of zero charge is not necessarily attained at a local minimum of capacitance, but might be located at a local capacitance maximum instead. Moreover, the results show that surface roughness can be accurately taken into account by multiplication of the ideally flat polycrystalline surface capacitance with a single factor. In particular, we find that the influence of the actual geometry of the facet pattern in negligible and our theory opens the way to a stochastic description of complex real polycrystal surfaces.
  • Item
    A continuum model for yttria-stabilised zirconia incorporating triple phase boundary, lattice structure and immobile oxide ions
    (Berlin : Weierstraß-Institut für Angewandte Analysis und Stochastik, 2019) Vágner, Petr; Guhlke, Clemens; Miloš, Vojtěch; Müller, Rüdiger; Fuhrmann, Jürgen
    A continuum model for yttria-stabilised zirconia (YSZ) in the framework of non-equilibrium thermodynamics is developed. Particular attention is given to i) modeling of the YSZ-metal-gas triple phase boundary, ii) incorporation of the lattice structure and immobile oxide ions within the free energy model and iii) surface reactions. A finite volume discretization method based on modified Scharfetter-Gummel fluxes is derived in order to perform numerical simulations. The model is used to study the impact of yttria and immobile oxide ions on the structure of the charged boundary layer and the double layer capacitance. Cyclic voltammograms of an air-half cell are simulated to study the effect of parameter variations on surface reactions, adsorption and anion diffusion.