Are SAXS and SANS suitable to extract information on the role of water for electric double-layer formation at the carbon - aqueous electrolyte interface?

Malina Seyffertitz, Sebastian Stock, Max Rauscher, Christian Prehal, Sylvio Haas, Lionel Porcar, Oskar Paris

Research output: Contribution to journalArticleResearchpeer-review

Abstract

This study reports on the applicability of X-ray transmission (XRT), small- and wide-angle X-ray scattering (SAXS/WAXS) and small-angle neutron scattering (SANS) for investigating fundamental processes taking place in the working electrode of an electric double-layer capacitor with 1 M RbBr aqueous electrolyte at different applied potentials. XRT and incoherent neutron scattering are employed to determine global ion- and water-concentration changes and associated charge-balancing mechanisms. We showcase the suitability of SAXS and SANS, respectively, to get complementary information on local ion and solvent rearrangement in nanoconfinement, but also underscore the limitations of simple qualitative models, asking for more quantitative descriptions of water-water and ion-water interactions via detailed atomistic modelling approaches.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)363-380
Number of pages18
JournalFaraday Discussions
Volume2024
Issue number249
DOIs
Publication statusE-pub ahead of print - 16 Aug 2023

Bibliographical note

Publisher Copyright: © 2023 The Royal Society of Chemistry.
Publisher Copyright: © 2024 The Royal Society of Chemistry.

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