Electrode-electrolyte interfaces are at the heart of electrochemical energy storage and conversion systems such as batteries, fuel cells and electrolyzers. It is at these interfaces that the electrochemical reactions that underpin the operation of these systems take place, via charge transfer processes.
In addition to the main electrochemical processes, these interfaces can be the site of parasitic phenomena leading to electrode passivation or poisoning. Passivation can be beneficial - is the case for the graphitic negative electrodes of lithium ion batteries -, or harmful - for example, carbon monoxide poisoning at the anode of the polymer membrane fuel cell.
During this presentation, I focused on the study of these interfaces, in particular using electrochemical methods applied to model electrodes and, where appropriate, coupled with quantitative chemical analysis methods. The examples reviewed concern the solid-electrolyte interphase (SEI) of negative electrodes for Li-ion batteries and the electrochemical reduction of carbon dioxide.
Finally, we have shown that certain properties of these interfaces can be evaluated using probe redox molecules that are added for analysis.
