Understanding Nano-Impacts: Binary Nature of Charge Transfer during Mediated Reactions

We report mediated charge transfer across a nanoparticle that Faradaically interacts with its surrounding solution while impacting on an electrochemically inactive electrode. To this end, two different aspects of the process are elucidated and interconnected: The Faradaic reaction at the particle su...

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Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Kaetelhoen, E, Compton, R
Format: Journal article
Published: 2015
Description
Summary:We report mediated charge transfer across a nanoparticle that Faradaically interacts with its surrounding solution while impacting on an electrochemically inactive electrode. To this end, two different aspects of the process are elucidated and interconnected: The Faradaic reaction at the particle surface and electron tunnelling between the electrode and the particle. Results demonstrate that the charge transfer can be described through a binary model, in which the current switches between the limiting Faradaic current and no current at all as a function of the electrode–particle distance, while the response is largely unrelated to the analyte’s formal potential. This finding allows a significantly simplified modelling approach in future studies.