Symmetry breaking in an electrolytic cell under AC field and non-identical adsorbing electrodes

Abstract Broken symmetry of any kind in natural or synthetic systems is a burgeoning area of science. In this article, the temporal behavior of the bulk density, electric potential inside the sample, and the adsorbed ionic particles density in an electrolytic cell are shown to be non-symmetric and strongly affected by the surfaces dynamics. These parameters are analytically calculated by considering electrodes surfaces with non-identical adsorption-desorption phenomena. The system is submitted to an applied external voltage in the limit of small amplitude, where the time scales involved allow strong surface effects. The influence of the surfaces on the ionic distribution is performed in the framework of the Poisson-Nernst-Planck model by taking into account non-identical boundary conditions on the electrodes and on the electric potential, described by distinct kinetic equations. Such approach may be directly applied to explain strong surface dependence on the impedance spectroscopy, in hybrid aligned liquid crystal cells, fuel cells, biological and condensed matter systems in general.