Modeling of electrochemical double layers in thermodynamic non-equilibrium

Abstract

We consider the contact between an electrolyte and a solid electrode. At first we formulate a thermodynamic consistent model that resolves boundary layers at interfaces. The model includes charge transport, diffusion, chemical reactions, viscosity, elasticity and polarization under isothermal conditions. There is a coupling between these phenomena that particularly involves the local pressure in the electrolyte. Therefore the momentum balance is of major importance for the correct description of the boundary layers. The width of the boundary layers is typically very small compared to the macroscopic dimensions of the system. In the second step we thus apply the method of asymptotic analysis to derive a simpler reduced bulk model that already incorporates the electrochemical properties of the double layers into a set of new boundary conditions. With the reduced model, we analyze the double layer capacitance for a metal–electrolyte interface.