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Evolution of hydrogen bubbles at the surface of a porous horizontal cathode

F. J. Higuera

  • ETSIAE, Universidad Politécnica de Madrid, 28040 Madrid, Spain

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Phys. Rev. Fluids 7, 113602 – Published 17 November, 2022

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevFluids.7.113602

Abstract

A simple model is set up to describe the growth of hydrogen bubbles at the cathode of a water electrolyzer operated at constant current. The cathode is assumed to be a porous horizontal plug covered with a thin porous catalytic layer where the hydrogen evolution reaction occurs. A dilute solution of a strong acid in water is sucked through this plug, and hydrogen bubbles grow quasistatically at its upward-facing surface. After an initial stage, the radius of the bubbles increases as t1/3 when the spacing of the bubbles is small, and approaches a power-law intermediate between t1/3 and t1/2 when it is larger. The onset current density at which bubbles first appear increases with the value of the supersaturation at which nucleation at the electrode is assumed to occur. As the current density increases above this onset, the spacing of the bubbles decreases, which may lead to bubble coalescence (not analyzed), and the time of growth of a bubble increases slightly. The current-voltage characteristic of the electrode shows that the increase of the activation overpotential and the Ohmic losses due to attached bubbles nearly balance the decrease of the concentration overpotential due to these bubbles.

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Phys. Rev. Fluids 7, 113602– Published 17 November, 2022
  • Received 27 June 2022
  • Accepted 25 October 2022
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