화학공학소재연구정보센터
Journal of the Electrochemical Society, Vol.141, No.11, 3103-3114, 1994
Interactions Among Bipolar Spheres in an Electrolytic Cell
The bipolar behavior of an arbitrary finite assemblage of spherical particles in an electrolytic cell is considered. The particles are allowed to differ in radius, in electric conductivity, and in electrochemical properties. A linear polarized electrode kinetics is assumed for the electrochemical reaction occurring at the particle surfaces. Using a boundary collocation technique, the governing equations for the electrical potential field are solved, and the interaction effects among the particles are calculated for various cases. The current enhancement factor of a particle is increased or decreased by the presence of a second neighboring particle, depending on the relative conductivities with respect to the surrounding medium, electrode reaction parameters, and orientation of the particles. The interaction effects between particles can be significant when the distance between particle surfaces approaches zero. The influence of particle interactions is stronger on the smaller particle than on the larger one. The current enhancement factors of linear chains of three spheres have been calculated, showing that the existence of the third particle can enhance the two-particle interaction effect significantly. Finally, our numerical results for the interaction between two spheres are used to find the effect of volume fractions of particles of each type on the effective electric conductivity in a dilute dispersion.