In-Situ Plasmonic Tracking Oxygen Evolution Revealing Multistage Oxygen Diffusion and Accumulating Inhibition

Abstract

Understanding mass transfer processes concomitant with electrochemical conversion for gas evolution reactions at the electrode-electrolyte interface plays a key role in advancing renewable energy storage and conversion. However, due to the complicated diffusion behavior of gas at the dynamic catalytic interfaces, it is still a great challenge to accurately portray mass transfer of gas during electrocatalysis. Here, we track the diffusion of dissolved oxygen on Cu nanostructured plasmonic interface, reveal multistage oxygen diffusion behaviors, including premature oxygen accumulation, spontaneous diffusion and accelerated oxygen dissipation, and indicate an accumulating inhibition effect on oxygen evolution arising from interfacial dissolved oxygen. With these knowledges, we develop a programmable potential scan strategy to eliminate interfacial gas products that alleviates the concentration polarization, releases accessible actives sites and promotes electrocatalytic performance. Our findings provide a direct observation of the interfacial mass transfer processes that govern the multi-phases catalysis kinetics.