CAREER: Emergent reactive properties of far-from-equilibrium electrochemical systems

在这个职业奖项中，由圣路易斯大学化学系的化学结构、动力学和机理计划资助，圣路易斯大学的Istvan Kiss教授将研究自组织对复杂电化学系统反应性质的影响，如振荡和图案形成。具有实际意义的产生电流的化学反应(例如，在电池和燃料电池中)往往远离其热力学平衡状态。这种体系能够表现出很大的化学浓度的时间和空间变化，这反过来又可以显著改变体系的反应性质。Kiss教授和他的学生将探索阴阳极相互作用、空间组织的反应性电化学介质的动力学特征，以及生物电催化反应的复杂动力学响应。这将通过一种多学科的方法论方法来实现，在这种方法中，非线性科学的数学和实验工具包与芯片上电极制造、微流体和生物电催化的最新技术发展相结合。远离平衡体系的基本组织原理的识别和实验表征在物理、化学和生物体系中有着广泛的应用。阴极-阳极耦合多电极流动电池的研究填补了现有对电化学系统复杂行为的认识与原电池和电解槽工业应用的建模需求之间的空白。振荡电化学介质允许测试最近关于同步和网络动力学的理论，这些理论在癫痫发作中昼夜节律和超同步神经放电的产生中具有重要意义。表征生物电催化系统的紧急反应性质在清洁技术中具有更广泛的影响：酶活性的空间和时间特征影响生物电极的功率曲线。在这一背景下，Kiss教授将开发和演示一系列关于自组织系统的实验。这些实验(例如，关于混沌腐蚀的实验)将展示如何将不同学科的概念联系起来，以解释紧急现象。它们将被用作一种推广工具，以传达多学科科学的重要性，向当前和未来的生物学家、化学家和物理学家传播非线性科学中的最新理论和概念，并教育公众关于非生物系统复杂的“智能”行为的出现。

In this CAREER award, funded by the Chemical Structure, Dynamics and Mechanisms Program of the Chemistry Division Professor Istvan Kiss of Saint Louis University, will study the effects of self-organization, such as oscillations and pattern formation, on the reactive properties of complex electrochemical systems. Current-generating chemical reactions of practical importance (e.g., in batteries and fuel cells) are often far from their thermodynamic equilibrium state. Such systems are capable of exhibiting large temporal and spatial variations of chemical concentrations, which, in turn, can significantly alter reactive properties of the system. Professor Kiss and his students will explore cathode-anode interactions, dynamical features of spatially organized reactive electrochemical media, and complex kinetic responses of bioelectrocatalytic reactions. This will be accomplished with a multidisciplinary, methodological approach in which the mathematical and experimental toolkits of nonlinear science are combined with recent technical developments of on-chip electrode fabrication, microfluidics, and bioelectrocatalyis. Identification of underlying organizing principles and experimental characterization of far-from-equilibrium systems have broad applications in physical, chemical, and biological systems. The investigation of coupled cathode-anode multi-electrode flow cells fills in the gap between the existing knowledge on complex behavior of electrochemical systems and the modeling needs of industrial applications of galvanic and electrolytic cells. Oscillatory electrochemical media allow for testing recent theories on synchronization and network dynamics that have importance in generation of circadian rhythms and hypersynchronous neural discharges in epileptic seizures. Characterization of emergent reactive properties of bioelectrocatalytic systems has broader impact in clean technology: features of spatial and temporal enzyme activities affect power curves of bioelectrodes.In this context, Professor Kiss will develop and demonstrate a set of experiments about self-organizing systems. These experiments (e.g., on chaotic corrosion) will show how to connect notions from different disciplines to interpret emergent phenomena. They will be used as an outreach tool to convey the importance multidisciplinary science, to distribute recent theories and notions in Nonlinear Science to current and future biologists, chemists, and physicists, and to educate the public about the emergence of complex, 'intelligent' behavior of abiotic systems.