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

我们的项目假设是，嵌盘纳米电极和浸泡在溶液中的纳米颗粒都可以通过极高能量的微波驱动对流和加热，并且可以通过这些微波效应实现电分析过程的巨大改进。这些现象（温度、质量输运）可以在电化学实验中使用纳米电极直接测量和量化。在非常小的电极上，湍流可以被抑制，并且可以实现异常快速的对流流动（由微波诱导的热梯度驱动），从而产生高电流和有益的影响，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，微波在具有足够快的RC时间常数的双层界面中的吸附（例如在纳米电极上）从未被报道过，并且可能再次导致新的化学现象（例如涉及H2， CO2或CO吸附在Pt， Pd或Au上的过程）。这类过程（只发生在纳米电极或纳米颗粒上）对传感器和燃料电池的过程可能很重要。

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.