Experiments on oscillatory electrodissolution of two nickel electrodes in sulfuric acid in an epoxy-based microchip flow cell are carried out. The electrical coupling strength  between the two oscillators can be tuned by adjusting three parameters: distance between the downstream electrode to the reservoir accommodating reference/counter electrodes, total cell resistance, and the surface area of electrodes. The relatively large ohmic potential drop (due to the constrained current in the narrow flow channel) can induce strong coupling in the microcell. As the coupling strength is tuned by changing any of these three parameters, we see a transition from phase drift through phase slip to phase locked behavior for weak, intermediate and strong coupling, respectively. The findings have importance in electroanalytical applications that require collector-generator multi-electrodes wires: the accuracy of the measurement can be improved by proper cell design that diminishes electrical cross talk by weakening the coupling between the electrodes.

Spontaneously synchronized electrochemical micro-oscillators  in on-chip integrated flow cell

244th National Meeting (2012)

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