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Electrochimica Acta 307 (2019) 269e274

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Electrochimica Acta
journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/electacta

Asymmetric bipolar electrochemistry: Detailed empirical description


and determination of output characteristics of a galvanic system with
multiple short-circuited cells in one electrolyte
Karel Lacina a, *, Toma
s Kazda b, Toma
s Syrový c, Libuse Trnkova
 d, Petr Vanýsek b, e,
dal
Petr Skla a,f

a
CEITEC - Central European Institute of Technology, Masaryk University, Kamenice 5, Brno, 625 00, Czech Republic
b  3058/10, Brno, 616 00, Czech Republic
Department of Electrical and Electronic Technology, Brno University of Technology, Technicka
c
Department of Graphic Arts and Photophysics, University of Pardubice, Studentska 95, Pardubice, 532 10, Czech Republic
d
Department of Chemistry, Faculty of Science, Masaryk University, Kamenice 5, Brno, 625 00, Czech Republic
e
Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, 418 La Tourette Hall, Northern Illinois University, DeKalb, IL, 60115-2862, USA
f
Department of Biochemistry, Faculty of Science, Masaryk University, Kamenice 5, Brno, 625 00, Czech Republic

a r t i c l e i n f o a b s t r a c t

Article history: It is empirically expected that if two galvanic cells are inserted in a single electrolyte cell, their output
Received 18 December 2018 parameters will not be enhanced due to the internal (electrolyte) short circuit. Our previous concept of a
Received in revised form galvanic cell with a galvanic short circuit (GSC) in a thin-layer arrangement disproved this expectation.
21 March 2019
Here, the system with GSC was studied in depth, described and an empiric model was derived and
Accepted 30 March 2019
Available online 1 April 2019
confirmed experimentally. The crucial influence of the solution and the charge transfer resistances on the
output performance of the cell were observed. A set of galvanic cells was prepared using screen-printing.
The panel of galvanic cells was designed and prepared in a way which enabled simple modular com-
Keywords:
Asymmetric bipolar electrochemistry
bination of more than one GSC. Thus, multiples of the voltage of the initial single cell can be obtained,
Galvanic cell while using only scissors for cutting the desired shape of the cell. The output characteristics under load
Galvanic short circuit were determined in a bulk measurement. Although, the enhancement of the output voltage in such
Voltage enhancement experimental setup was not as pronounced as in a thin layer, the cell with GSC performed better in
comparison with a single galvanic cell.
© 2019 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

1. Introduction the bipolar electrode (BPE) can be tuned by its length (of course, in
combination with the applied external voltage).
Bipolar electrochemistry, from its first attempts in 1980s [1,2], From the viewpoint of the BPE material, one can recognize
successfully developed into a full-bodied and interesting research symmetric and asymmetric types. Symmetric electrodes are those
field. Presently it encompasses various applications in areas of made of one material/metal and thus both poles of the bipolar
analytical and material chemistry, synthesis, manipulation of ma- electrode consist of the same material. On the other hand, asym-
terials on molecular scale, screening of catalysts [3e5] or modula- metric electrodes are those which possess two different ends. This
tion of mass transport [6]. Furthermore, many electrochemical can be also considered as two electrodes of different material which
processes can be considered as bipolar. For more details and ex- are conductively connected. Such applications include Janus
amples from various fields, the reader is directed to the extraordi- nanoparticles [8] or microswimmers [9].
nary reviews by groups of Crooks [7] and Kuhn [8]. Bipolar electrochemistry is often used on industrial scale for
What is one of the most outstanding features of bipolar elec- electrolysis, for example in electrolysis of molten salts [10,11],
trochemistry is that the potential difference between two poles of electroplating [12] or water electrolysis [13]. The bipolar electro-
chemistry has been also utilized in electrochemical energy sources,
such as lead-acid battery systems [14,15] or in redox flow systems
[16,17]. In a bipolar plate galvanic cell, the bipolar plate electrode is
* Corresponding author.
inserted between two cells and serves as an anode in the first cell
E-mail address: lacinak@chemi.muni.cz (K. Lacina).

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.electacta.2019.03.209
0013-4686/© 2019 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
270 K. Lacina et al. / Electrochimica Acta 307 (2019) 269e274

and as a cathode in the second cell, i.e. different electrode reactions output voltage of the tested galvanic cell assembled by adding 1 ml
belonging to two different cell compartments occur on each side of of an electrolyte over the electrodes was followed using a Nano
the plate electrode. Such a plate also seals the individual com- Volt/Micro Ohm Meter 34420 A (Agilent, input resistance > 10 GU)
partments and therefore the electrolytes of these two cells are operated by our in-house developed software LabTools. Microcal
separated. Origin software was used for data fitting.
In our recent contribution [18], we presented a galvanic cell
consisting of a copper cathode and a zinc anode in the solution of
2.2. Galvanic cells printed using thick-film technology
CuSO4 (Fig. 1A). The second shorted pair of anode and cathode, a
galvanic short circuit, was inserted between these ‘main’ electrodes
With the gathered knowledge about the processes in the
in a way that the zinc anode of the inserted pair was placed in
improved cell, thick-film technology was used for the preparation
proximity of the copper cathode of the initial pair as can be seen in
of electrodes for testing of their performance (Fig. 1C). The design
Fig. 1B and analogously, the inserted cathode was placed close to
consisted of a pair of electrodes - carbon cathode and zinc anode.
the initial anode. The whole setup can be simply regarded as two
Each neighbouring pair was in a short circuit. The electrodes pre-
galvanic cells connected in series but immersed in a single
sent on the resulting printed board can be simply shaped and
container of an electrolyte. Such galvanic cell with a galvanic short
adjusted using scissors. A photograph of the whole panel with
circuit belongs also to the already mentioned field of asymmetric
multiple cells can be seen in Supporting Information (Fig. S1),
bipolar electrochemistry.
together with depiction of how to obtain a galvanic system with
Our concept worked in spite of the intuitive expectations that
more than one galvanic short circuit (GSC).
such a setup is impossible to produce useful output due to the in-
The multiple-cell panels were fabricated by screen printing
ternal, i.e. electrolyte, short circuit (discussed in a recent paper by
technology using EKRA E1 printing machine. The multicell struc-
Suraniti et al. [19]). However, as we demonstrated earlier [18], the
ture was printed on PET substrate Melinex ST504. The printing
governing factor of such “(im)possibility” was the resistance be-
substrates were corona treated (instrument by Alhbrandt) before
tween two galvanic cells sharing the electrolyte (actually, not only
printing. The cells were fabricated in two configurations, one with
the solution resistance, but many parameters of the system are
Ag/Carbon collectors (AgC type) and a second type with carbon
taking part here, see below).
collector (C type) only. The printing stencils were based on SAATI
Herein, we thoroughly studied the processes, and the overall
PES mesh with rolling 77 threads per centimetre coated by KIWO
behaviour of the galvanic system was described in depth. We
emulsion. Each printed electrode consisted of three (AgC type),
derived an equation stemming from the modified hyperbolic
resp. two layers (C type). At the AgC type, a silver collector (DuPont
function, the parameters of which reflect diverse electrochemical
5029) was printed as the first layer, and then dried at 120  C for
processes. We designed and prepared a set of galvanic cells using
15 min (Memmert oven UF75). The next layer (first for the C type)
screen-printing (thick-film technology). This design enabled simple
was printed using a solvent borne homemade graphite-based ink
modular combination of more than one galvanic short circuit and
formulation and the printed layers were dried at 120  C for 10 min.
thus to obtain multiples of the voltages of the initial cell. Finally,
The viscosity of the ink formulation was 9.6 Pa s (100 s1 at 25  C,
initial output characteristics under load were determined.
Brookfield). The carbon layer present in the cells served as a carbon
current collector (for C type) and as a carbon cathode, for both types
2. Experimental of the cells. The last layer, zinc anode, was printed using a home-
made ink formulation based on zinc. The solvent borne ink
2.1. Measuring of the output voltage formulation was based on battery grade zinc particles with average
size 5 mm. The viscosity of the ink formulation was 6.7 Pa s
The output voltage was measured in the same setup as (100 s1 at 25  C, Brookfield). The zinc layer was dried at 120  C for
described in detail in our previous report [18]. In short, the custom 15 min.
designed printed copper-plated circuit board (Printed s.r.o, Czech

Republic) was galvanically plated with zinc (Galvanika Milan Sebek 2.3. Determination of the output characteristics
& spol., Czech Republic) at specific positions, thus providing series
of zinc anodes and copper cathodes which can be freely inter- The measured cell was scissor-cut from the printed multiple-cell
connected between each other using alligator clips. The generated panel and inserted into a beaker with aqueous solution of 5 mM

Fig. 1. (A) The cartoon representation of the initial cell consisting of a cathode and an anode 1C/1A and (B) the galvanic system with a galvanic short circuit 2A/2C where two
galvanic cells in a single electrolyte cell are obtained after insertion of one pair of anode 2A and cathode 2C between the electrodes of the initial cell 1C/1A. Output voltage of the
system is read at the point of Eout. Schematics visualizing the relation of the initial cell and the inserted pair of anode and cathode is depicted below particular set-up (A, B). (C) The
detail photograph of the multiple-cell panel printed using the screen-printing. The employment of the single cell (blue dashed line) or the cell with one galvanic short circuit
(yellow dashed line) is visualized in the picture.
K. Lacina et al. / Electrochimica Acta 307 (2019) 269e274 271

CuSO4. The evaporation of the water from the electrolyte during the electrolyte. The fact is that the absolute conductivity of the solution
measurement was eliminated by sealing using Parafilm M. The between electrodes in this arrangement is limited. Generally, the
potentiostat Biologic VMP3 was connected to the output electrodes majority of the electrochemical processes occur on the edges of the
through contact pads using alligator clips. Galvanostatic discharg- neighbouring electrodes. The force lines of electric field are the
ing was carried out to the potential of 0.2 V. The used discharge densest between the regions facing each other (two adjacent
current and obtained capacities were related to the surface area of neighbouring electrodes, see Fig. 2A) and become more and more
one electrode, which was always 1 cm2 (only the widened parts of sparse when moving from the electrodes into the outer space (in
the electrodes were immersed in the electrolyte, see Fig. 1C). The the direction from the electrodes to the solution).
second test method was a potentiostatic discharging at 0.2 V. It can be assumed that one cathode and one anode in a thin-
All common chemicals used throughout the study were of the layer arrangement are separated by some distance. If some
analytical purity and used as received. “obstacle” is inserted between such electrodes, i.e. high solution
resistance, the force lines will follow the pathway of the lowest
3. Results and discussion resistance (Fig. 2B). And if in that case a second shorted cell is
added, the charge will flow through this “shortcut” and the
3.1. General notes and observations resulting voltage is elevated. The output voltage can thus be
affected by modulation of the solution resistance or simply by
The experimental setup was based on a modified Daniell cell; a limiting of the volume of the electrolyte above the galvanic cell
copper cathode and a zinc anode were immersed in an aqueous (Fig. 2C and D, see further).
solution of CuSO4. It must be noted that this setup, i.e. a zinc anode
in the solution of Cu2þ ions, is detrimental. At this arrangement, Zn 3.2. Fitting of the data and an empiric model of an asymmetric
electrode even without any electrical connection will be gradually bipolar galvanic cell
dissolved and covered with reduced copper (Cu0). This sponta-
neous reaction stems from the difference of the standard reduction We initially assumed that the governing factor for the voltage
potentials of the materials used (E0 ¼ 0.76 V for reduction of zinc, enhancement is the ratio between separation of the electrodes in
E0 ¼ þ0.34 V for reduction of copper, vs. SHE [20]; DG0 for oxidation the single cell over the separation of two shorted galvanic cells in
of solid zinc and for reduction of copper ions are 146.7 kJ/mol one volume of an electrolyte. We empirically fitted the measured
and 65.6 kJ/mol, respectively). However, this existing detriment data with a modified Hill equation. While the Hill equation is
will be in the future work overcome by the employment of different provided in the Origin Lab software in the physiology set, it proved
redox pairs in a suitable electrolyte and thus it can be neglected in to be quite suitable for our original needs.
following description of the system. Such system, where zinc is not However, more careful analysis of the experimental data
spontaneously dissolved, is for example a zinc electrode in NH4Cl revealed that the only governing factor for the output voltage Eout is
(in MnO2/Zn cells). the absolute distance between the electrodes of GSC (2A/2C in
As each experiment was realized within a reasonable time Fig. 1B, the distance between electrodes within each cell 1C/2A and
window (z15 min), the effect of the fouling of the zinc electrode by 2C/1A was kept constant, i.e. only the distance between two shorted
copper deposition had not any influence on the measured output cells was changed during the experiment). Now, the behaviour of
voltage. This was applicable for the readout of the voltage; how- the output voltage Eout has been reconsidered and a more precise
ever, not for a long-term probing of the supply current, i.e. the cell equation has been derived:
capacity. The more the zinc electrode is covered with copper in a
spontaneous/parasitic reaction, the lower is the capacity of the cell, Rsol
Eout ¼ Ecell þ nEcell g (1)
which will be demonstrated further. Rsol þ Rct;short
It is a question how to properly define the internal pair of a
shorted anode and cathode. It is important to note that also the In this equation, Eout is the measured output voltage of the
shorted anode and cathode inserted in the electrolyte represent a whole galvanic system, Ecell is the potential of the single cell at
galvanic cell itself. However, by inserting such a cell between the particular experimental conditions, e.g. zinc anode and copper
cathode and the anode of the initial galvanic cell (1C/1A in Fig. 1B), cathode inserted in the solution of 10 mM KCl. n is the number of
two short-circuited cells (connected in a series) in a single galvanic short-circuits (shorted cathode/anode pairs inserted be-
container of an electrolyte are obtained. In this setup, the cathode tween electrodes of the initial pair).
1C of the initial cell becomes the cathode of the first cell and the
anode 1A of the initial cell will become the anode of the second cell.
In other words, the anode and the cathode of the initial galvanic cell
are divided between two galvanic cells. In this report, the main
feature will be described depending on the context as a galvanic
system with galvanic short circuit (GSC) or the system with two
shorted galvanic cells (connected in series).
The architecture of the proposed setup is crucial for the per-
formance of the galvanic system with GSC. Analogous concepts
with various arrangement have already been studied [21,22], but
none or much smaller increase in the output voltage has been
Fig. 2. (A) The visualization of the force lines of electric field in the electrolyte above
observed. For example, in the setup where the electrodes are facing the schematic cross-section of one pair of cathode and anode. (B) Solution resistance
each other by their largest surface [21], the effect of the output between two identical galvanic cells in one volume is governing the route of the charge
voltage enhancement was almost negligible for the separation of transfer. (C) If the solution resistance above the galvanic system RS,1 is low (high ionic
the cells below 50 cm (length of GSC). strength, thickness of the electrolyte above the electrode) the preferred route for
flowing current is the electrolyte; (D) if the solution resistance RS,2 is high (low ionic
Contrary, we have previously shown [18] that thin-layer strength, limited volume of an electrolyte), the preferred route for flowing electric
arrangement is advantageous as it enabled nearly 2-times multi- current is the galvanic short circuit and the voltage and performance of the cell is
plication of the output voltage for a two-cell arrangement in one enhanced.
272 K. Lacina et al. / Electrochimica Acta 307 (2019) 269e274

Term g in eq. (1) represents limiting voltage difference at parameters are not changed. On the other hand, ratio of solution
particular experimental conditions. It is related to the iR drop given resistances with charge transfer resistance of shorted cell Rsol/
by limiting currents flowing through the shorted galvanic cell (2A/ (Rsol þ Rct,short) is being changed during the change of the separation
2C in Fig. 1B). The value of g varies between 0 and 1 and is directly of the electrodes of a galvanic short circuit. In other words, g is
proportional to Rsol and indirectly proportional to Rct, charge related to electrochemistry (thermodynamic parameters, electro-
transfer resistance of all electrode surfaces in a cell. Rct affects the chemical potentials of the cells), whereas term Rsol/(Rsol þ Rct,short) is
resulting g in a higher extent in comparison with Rsol, see further in related to separation of shorted galvanic cells.
Fig. 3. (Similarity of g*Ecell from eq. (1) with DEelec in Ref. [6] is not The empiric model of an asymmetric bipolar galvanic cell was
coincidental). During the measurement of each of curves in Fig. 3, confirmed in the experiment where the output voltage Eout was
all parameters in eq. (1) were expected to be constant except to Rsol, measured depending on the separation of the electrodes in GSC (i.e.
which was being affected by the changing the distance of two separation of the shorted cells) and the type and concentration of
shorted cells. the electrolyte. As it was previously demonstrated (Fig. 2B in
The term Rsol/(Rsol þ Rct,short) was empirically derived. It de- Ref. [18]), the output voltage Eout of the galvanic system increases
scribes the measure at which galvanic short circuit prevails over the with the separation of the cells d generally, and it decreases with
electrolytic one and it ranges between 0 and 1. Rct,short represents the ionic strength of the supporting electrolyte (see Fig. 3). Eout
charge transfer resistance at the surface of the electrodes of GSC increases with the concentration of the soluble reactant (CuSO4).
and is considered to involve various parameters: concentration of Although this parameter marginally elevates ionic strength of the
an electrolyte and redox compounds, quality of the surface of solution (which decreases the voltage) it predominantly affects the
electrodes and other factors. Rct,short is assumed to be constant charge transfer resistance at the electrode surface. This parameter
during the experiment as the electrode surfaces and adjacent layers (Rct) thus has much higher influence on the output performance of
of an electrolyte are not affected. The solution resistance Rsol is the galvanic system. All the data (also from the previous report
understood here as the resistance of the solution between the [18]) were plotted using this equation and the index of determi-
electrodes of GSC. At high the solution resistances, Rct,short can be nation (R2) was above 0.947 (see Fig. 3 and Fig. S2).
neglected and the term Rsol/(Rsol þ Rct,short) will be close to 1 and the
effect of the galvanic short circuit will be more pronounced. Con- 3.3. Initial evaluation of the output characteristics of screen-printed
trary, at low values of the solution resistance Rsol, Rct,short plays a galvanic cells
non-negligible role and the influence of the galvanic short circuit
on Eout is less significant as the term Rsol/(Rsol þ Rct,short) converges to As the next step after data fitting and empiric description of
0. This means that in solutions with high ionic strength or at small fundaments, first experiments were performed to determine the
separations of two shorted cells, GSC does not apply and does not output behaviour of galvanic cells with load (discharged by current
affect the output voltage and, vice versa, it does for two sufficiently 40 mA cm2). A single galvanic cell and a cell with GSC prepared
distant cells or high solution resistances. using screen-printing were tested and their total capacities, output
The general behaviour of the term g*Rsol/(Rsol þ Rct,short) can be energies and potentials were compared. Output potentials were
likened to Michaelis-Menten equation, where g and Rct,short are read at a discharge plateau at the capacity of 80 mAh$cm2 (after 2 h
constants and only Rsol is a variable. of discharging). The results can be found in Table 1. As it could be
The value of g is considered to be constant throughout one expected, the cell with a galvanic short circuit exhibited compa-
measured curve (while changing the separation of two shorted rable capacity of a single cell (ranging between 295 mAh$cm2 and
cells in one volume) as concentrations and other chemical 358 mAh$cm2) since the same currents flow through the same
areas of the supply (output) electrodes of the particular system.
However, as the output voltage was enhanced by approx. 0.1 V, the
electric power output was enhanced correspondingly (resulting
discharge curves for the single galvanic cell and galvanic system
with shorted cells can be seen in Fig. S3).
The enhancement of output potential was approx. 100 mV,
which is only approx. 10% of the ideal value of expected voltage of
modified Daniell cell. As the absolute solution resistance affects the
overall performance of the improved cell, the enhancement of the
output voltage was low due to the chosen setup for this experi-
ment. Here, the planar galvanic system consisted of two cells with
GSC, in which the electrodes were separated by 20 mm (non-
optimal distance), and it was immersed into the bulk of the elec-
trolyte (low Rsol). This was different from the setup used in the
experiment in Fig. 3 and in Ref. [18], where electrolyte was present
only in one thin layer above the sufficiently distant electrodes of the
galvanic system (high Rsol) and where the effect of GSC was thus
much more significant. For the future bulk measurements, the
Fig. 3. Dependency of the output voltage (DE) on the separation (d) of two shorted performance will be improved by the increase of the solution
cells in one volume of an electrolyte (the length of GSC was changed). Output voltage
resistance, for example by limiting the volume of the electrolyte or
increases with the separation of the shorted cells, with the concentration of the soluble
reactant (CuSO4) and decreases with the ionic strength of the solution (KCl). Difference by using a porous matrix such as a filter paper above the electrodes
of the voltage DE (y axis) is calculated as DE ¼ Eout - Ecell, where Ecell is the potential of (see Fig. S4).
the initial cell upon experimental conditions. With increasing distance between the The last electrochemical analysis was potentiostatic discharging
two shorted cells, Rsol increases with respect to constant charge transfer resistance of at 0.2 V. The single galvanic cell and the cell with GSC were con-
the shorted electrodes, Rct,short. Subsequently, as Rsol reaches such value against which
Rct,short becomes negligible, ratio Rsol/(Rsol þ Rct,short) from eq. (1) converges to 1 and the
nected to the potentiostat and discharged until the output current
output potential Eout reaches plateau. The limiting value of DE (plateau) is governed by density reached 0.00 mA cm2. The overall capacity of the cell with
term g from eq. (1). GSC was comparable (1200 mAh$cm2) to the capacity of single cell
K. Lacina et al. / Electrochimica Acta 307 (2019) 269e274 273

Table 1
Comparison of capacity, energy and output potential of the single galvanic cell and two shorted cells (cell with GSC). Three samples for each setup were analysed.a

Cell number Capacity [mAh$cm2] Energy [mWh] Potential at 80 mAh$cm2 [V]

Single cell Cell with GSC Single cell Cell with GSC Single cell Cell with GSC

No1 317 358 0.268 0.311 0.943 1.02


No2 319 318 0.254 0.283 0.874 1.06
No3 295 317 0.230 0.260 0.924 0.979
Average 310 331 0.251 0.285 0.914 1.02
a
The current was related to the surface area of positive electrode which was always 1 cm2.

(1210 mAh$cm2), however, the ability to supply small currents for batteries for energetics of traditional and renewable resources
longer time was higher for the first one (higher by approx. 7.5 h, see (ORGBAT)" No.CZ.02.1.01/0.0/0.0/16_025/0007445.
Fig. S5). The higher capacity of both types of cells at this experiment
compared to previous one, where discharging at constant current Appendix A. Supplementary data
was performed (approx. 1200 vs. 320 mAh$cm2), is given due to
different extent of the parasitic reactions on the electrodes. For the Supplementary data to this article can be found online at
case of potentiostatic discharging at 0.2 V, there is not much op- https://doi.org/10.1016/j.electacta.2019.03.209.
portunity for the parasitic reaction to occur when the output cur-
rent is high (maximal) and overall capacity is reaching theoretical
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