Plasma Electrochemistry: Moving Electrochemistry to the Gas Phase

Plasma Electrochemistry: Moving Electrochemistry to the Gas Phase
Daren J. Caruana
Department of Chemistry, 20 Gordon St, London, WC1H 0AJ.

As electrochemists, we are interested in electron attachment and detachment processes. Traditionally, we control the availability of electrons via an electrically conducting solid and measure electron transfer across the interface, where the chemical species reacting is in the liquid phase. Gases have typically been ignored due to their feeble electrical conductivity. With the advent of new accessible approaches to form stable plasmas, these electrically conducting gases are attracting some significant interest and are now being investigated as exotic electrochemical environments.
The defining property of plasmas is presence of free electrons, because of this they can be considered as both electrodes or electrolytes. We describe results supporting both modes. Potentially without a solvent we have an extended potential window giving unprecedented access to chemistry not previously accessible in liquids. Moreover, mass transport properties are far better than in liquids, as such the fluxes of electroactive species to the electrode a much greater.