Litcius/Paper detail

Compensation effects between the apparent activation energy and pre-exponential factor in simple models of electrocatalytic hydrogen evolution

Jan Fingerhut, Rifael Z Snitkoff-Sol, M. Albers, Rafaël E. Vos, Onno van der Heijden, Marc Koper

2026Faraday Discussions6 citationsDOIOpen Access PDF

Abstract

) relations that mimic intrinsic entropy-enthalpy compensation. Our results demonstrate that compensation effects in electrocatalysis can arise purely from kinetic coupling and site heterogeneity rather than from fundamental thermodynamic scaling, underscoring the need for caution when interpreting temperature-dependent kinetic data. We propose that meaningful mechanistic insight requires measurements on well-defined single-crystal electrodes within potential regions where Tafel slopes remain constant.

Topics & Concepts

Activation energyYield (engineering)Simple (philosophy)Materials scienceElectrodeElectrocatalystCompensation (psychology)ThermodynamicsEnergy (signal processing)HydrogenElectrochemistryStandard electrode potentialChemical physicsElectrode potentialChemistryKinetic energyKineticsWork (physics)Potential energyCurrent (fluid)Electrocatalysts for Energy ConversionCO2 Reduction Techniques and CatalystsSpectroscopy and Quantum Chemical Studies