Microwave-Induced Nanoscale Convection, Polarisation, and Thermal Effects Leading to Innovative Analytical Technology

我们的项目假设是，对于镶嵌盘纳米电极和浸入溶液中的纳米颗粒来说，极高能的微波驱动的对流和加热都是可能的，并且通过这些微波效应可以实现电分析过程的巨大改进。这些现象（温度、质量传递）可以在使用纳米电极的电化学实验中直接测量和量化。在非常小的电极处，可以抑制湍流，并且可以实现异常快速的对流流动（由微波引起的热梯度驱动），从而产生高电流和有益效果，例如分析应用中的动力学分辨率（硫化物、硫醇、亚砷酸盐、氧气、二氧化碳等）。更重要的是，微波以足够快的 RC 时间常数（例如在纳米电极）双层界面的吸附从未被报道过，并且可能再次导致新的化学现象（例如涉及 Pt、Pd 或 Au 上的 H2、CO2 或 CO 吸附物的过程）。这些类型的过程（仅发生在纳米电极或纳米颗粒上）对于传感器和燃料电池过程可能很重要。

Our project hypothesis is that extremely energetic microwave-driven convection and heating are possible for both inlaid-disk nanoelectrodes and nanoparticles immersed in solution and that massive improvements in electroanalytical processes can be achieved with these microwave effects. These phenomena (temperature, mass transport) can be directly measured and quantified in electrochemical experiments employing nanoelectrodes. At very small electrodes turbulence can be suppressed and unusually fast convective flow can be achieved (driven by microwave induced thermal gradients) giving high currents and beneficial effects e.g. kinetic resolution in analytical applications (sulphide, thiol, arsenite, oxygen, carbon dioxide, etc.). More importantly, the adsorption of microwaves into the double layer of interfaces with sufficiently fast RC time constant (e.g. at nanoelectrodes) has never been reported and may again lead to novel chemical phenomena (e.g. for processes involving H2, CO2, or CO adsorbates on Pt, Pd, or Au). These kinds of processes (which occur only at nanoelectrodes or nanoparticles) could be important for sensor and fuel cell processes.