An automated microfluidics platform for accelerating kinetics studies of alcohol electrooxidations
File(s)
Published version
Author(s)
Liang, Xiao
Ouyang, Mengzheng
Brandon, Nigel P
Xuan, Jin
Wang, Huizhi
Type
Journal Article
Abstract
This study presents an automated flow platform to accelerate the kinetics study of small-molecule alcohol electrooxidations. Its microfluidics design and programmable workflow enable efficient, reliable, and reproducible characterizations, achieved by precise control of temperature, electrolyte composition, electrode potential, and in-process electrode cleaning. The validated platform determines apparent reaction orders and activation energies as functions of electrode potential across six alcohol systems, covering 114 conditions in a single run and reducing manual effort by over 50% compared to conventional one-variable-at-a-time methods. The kinetic data provide valuable mechanistic insights, showing that ethanol, 1-propanol, cyclohexanol, and 1,3-propanediol favor a potential-dependent oxidation pathway, whereas ethylene glycol and glycerol with higher hydroxyl-to-carbon ratios prefer an indirect oxidation pathway. This automation-assisted approach is broadly applicable to a range of electrochemical reactions, paving the way for self-driving experimentation for data-driven mechanistic understanding.
Date Issued
2026-02-20
Date Acceptance
2025-12-04
Citation
Device, 2026, 4 (2)
ISSN
2666-9986
Publisher
Elsevier BV
Journal / Book Title
Device
Volume
4
Issue
2
Copyright Statement
© 2025 The Author(s). Published by Elsevier Inc. This is an open access article under the CC BY license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/).
License URL
Identifier
10.1016/j.device.2025.101022
Publication Status
Published
Article Number
101022
Date Publish Online
2026-01-28