Self‐Organization in Electrochemical Synthesis as a Methodology towards New Materials

Abstract

Despite its potential, self‐organization as a methodology for the synthesis of materials has not been developing at the pace required for the ample scale synthesis of materials with more complex structures. As there is an environmental demand for a fast change in the energy matrix, away from fossil fuels, by using materials with more complex composition and structure, this topic has been gaining potential. As complexity can be observed in many different fields of science, from biology to physical chemistry, this Review intends to focus on recent advances of self‐organization in electrochemical systems. To provide a deeper understanding of the literature being reviewed, the fundamentals of nonlinear dynamics in electrochemistry is discussed, based on classical literature. Following this, two electrochemical processes in which self‐organization is observed will be reviewed, namely electrodeposition and electrodissolution. In the final section, self‐organization is presented as a perspective for applied systems, where self‐organization is employed for the synthesis of materials of technological importance. This Review intends to reignite the debate on how self‐organization could be used to produce more complex materials than the traditional step‐by‐step approach could achieve.

The Growth of an Electrochemical Garden on a Zinc Electrode

“…These structures are associated with electrochemical instabilities and are frequently described in terms of the coupling between the electrical characteristics of the system and the mass balance provided by the kinetic laws of the elementary steps comprising the electrochemical reaction mechanism. The coupling between different sites of the metal surface is described by the dependence of the double layer potential on space [28] …”

“…The coupling between different sites of the metal surface is described by the dependence of the double layer potential on space. [28]…”

Oxidation of the n-GaAs Surface: Morphological and Kinetic Analysis

“…The peak of the polarization curve (jmax  182 mA/cm 2 ) corresponds to the maximum dissolution rate of the semiconductor sample surface. The maximum value of the current density corresponds to the value of the Flade potential Vf [18]. Exceeding the value of Vf will mean that the oxidation rate of the GaAs surface becomes higher than the dissolution rate.…”