Related Experiment Video
Updated: Jun 19, 2026

Hydrogen Production and Utilization in a Membrane Reactor
Published on: March 10, 2023
The electrochemistry of "solid/water" interfaces involved in PEM-H2O reactors: part I. The "Pt/water" interfaces
Qiang Wang1, Chuan-Sin Cha, Juntao Lu
1Department of Chemistry, Wuhan University, Wuhan, 430072, China.
Abstract:
The nature and properties of Pt surfaces in contact with pure water in PEM-H2O reactors were mimetically studied by employing CV measurements with microelectrode techniques. These "Pt/water" interfaces were found to be electrochemically polarizable, and the local interfacial potential relative to reversible hydrogen electrode (RHE) potential in pure water is numerically the same as the potential value measured against a RHE in contact with PEM as the reference electrode. However, the structural parameters of the electric double layer at the "Pt/water" interfaces can be quite different from those at the "Pt/PEM" interfaces, and the kinetics of electrode processes could be seriously affected by the structure of electric double layer in pure water media. Besides, there is active diffusional flow of intermediates of electrode reactions between the "Pt/water" and the "Pt/PEM" interfaces, thus facilitating the active involvement of the "Pt/water" interfaces in the current-generation mechanism of PEM fuel cells and other types of PEM-H2O reactors.
Related Concept Videos
Interfacial Electrochemical Methods: Overview
The Electrical Double Layer
Processes at Electrodes
Solubility Equilibria: Ionic Product of Water
The ionic product of water varies with temperature, and its value is 1.0 x 10−14 at standard experimental conditions. Per Le Chatelier's...
Electrochemical Systems
Electrolysis
