Short Course at ECS meetings
This course is intended for scientists and engineers who are interested in using rotating electrodes in their projects. Examples of application include fuel cell catalyst screening, corrosion inhibitor testing, and electroplating. After a brief introduction of basic concepts of electrochemistry, major kinetic processes at electrode surface are described. Emphasis is given to mass transport phenomena in fluid dynamics. These theoretical discussions are designed to help attendees appreciate the simplicity and the wide reach of rotating electrode techniques. A significant portion of the course will be allocated for a hands-on demonstration when a real experiment is performed. Specific and practical knowledge, often taken for granted by experts, will be disseminated so that a researcher new to this area can get started quickly.
Course outline
- Fundamental Concepts and Theories
- Illustration of an Typical Electrochemical Experiment
- Kinetics of Electrochemical Reactions (Electron Transfer and Mass transport)
- Fluid Dynamics (Diffusion, Viscosity, Shear Stress, Laminar and Turbulent Flows)
- Rotating Disk Electrodes (Levich Equation, Koutecky-Levich Equation)
- Rotating Ring-Disk Electrodes (Generator-Collector Experiment, Collection Efficiency)
- Rotating Cylinder Electrodes (Eisenberg Equation, Correlating with Pipeline Flows)
- Applications of RDE, RRDE, and RCE Techniques
- Hands-on Demonstration
- List of Required Equipment, Parts, and Chemicals
- Using and Caring Each Individual Component
- Setting up an Experiment
- Troubleshooting and Insider Tricks
- Reducing Measurement Noise
- Data Processing and Analysis
About the instructor
Dr. Li Sun received his undergraduate education from Peking University, China. He then went to Northwestern University and conducted his graduate research in surface-enhanced Raman scattering under the supervision of Professor Richard Van Duyne.
After receiving a PhD degree in physical-analytical chemistry (1990), he assisted Professor Richard Crooks in carrying out research in many fundamental as well as applied areas, including self-assembled monolayers, nano-lithography, mass transport through nanopores, carbon nanotubes, dendrimer-encapsulated catalysts, microfluidics, and DNA microchips. Dr. Sun joined Pine Research Instrumentation in 2005 to bring innovative solutions to challenging problems faced by electrochemists in their daily work.
Dr. Sun won a multi-discipline award from NSF for his research in mass transport through nanopores. He enjoys teaching science to all ages. He has taught undergraduate and graduate students at University of Minnesota and at Texas A&M University. The subjects of his teaching include general chemistry, instrumental analysis, optical spectroscopy, and electrochemistry. Dr. Sun has published over 47 journal articles and held 2 patents.
