A Fixed‐Charge Interphase Synchronizes Ion Transport to Suppress Space‐Charge‐Driven Inefficiency Under Nanoliter Confinement

Ion transport at electrified interfaces is conventionally described by the redistribution of mobile ions to preserve local electroneutrality. Under extreme electrolyte confinement, however, this assumption fails as the characteristic transport length approaches the Debye screening length, giving rise to space-charge accumulation and slow electrostatic relaxation that dominate interfacial kinetics. Here, we introduce a fixed-charge-selective interphase in which immobile anionic charges replace mobile electrolyte anions as the primary charge-compensating species, thereby establishing a chemically encoded electrostatic boundary condition. Using a glucose-derived network as a model system, we show that localized fixed charge enables cation-selective transport and suppresses extended space-charge layers (ESCLs) by eliminating the slow relaxation pathways. Spatiotemporal transport analysis reveals that this interphase collapses multi-timescale interfacial relaxation into a unified kinetic regime. When applied to nanoliter-confined electrochemical systems (45 nL), rest-induced Coulombic efficiency (CE) collapse is reduced from 40% to 5%, demonstrating stabilization of electrostatic relaxation during idle periods, which is a failure mode intrinsic to microscale devices operating under duty cycles. The concept is further validated under pH-coupled and oxidative-stress conditions, sustaining stable operation with strong rate capability. These results define a general chemical strategy for regulating interfacial ion transport under confinement by replacing mobile charge compensation with molecularly fixed charges.

Authors

Institutions

Publication Details

Journal
Angewandte Chemie International Edition
Published
2026-06-30
DOI
https://doi.org/10.1002/anie.5195226
Primary Topic
Electrochemical Analysis and Applications
Type
article
Field-Weighted Citation Impact
0.00

Funders

Controls
|||
ALL TIME
JAN
FEB
MAR
APR
MAY
JUN
JUL
AUG
SEP
OCT
article

A Fixed‐Charge Interphase Synchronizes Ion Transport to Suppress Space‐Charge‐Driven Inefficiency Under Nanoliter Confinement

Minshen Zhu, Jiachen Ma, Dmitriy D. Karnaushenko, Yang Huang et al.
Angewandte Chemie International Edition
Electrochemical Analysis and Applications
article

A Fixed‐Charge Interphase Synchronizes Ion Transport to Suppress Space‐Charge‐Driven Inefficiency Under Nanoliter Confinement

Minshen Zhu, Jiachen Ma, Dmitriy D. Karnaushenko, Yang Huang, Yaping Yan, Ruhuai Mei, Kai Zhang, Yumin Luo, Yue Li, Daniil Karnaushenko, Oliver G. Schmidt, Wenlan Zhang, Hongmei Tang
article en

Abstract

Ion transport at electrified interfaces is conventionally described by the redistribution of mobile ions to preserve local electroneutrality. Under extreme electrolyte confinement, however, this assumption fails as the characteristic transport length approaches the Debye screening length, giving rise to space-charge accumulation and slow electrostatic relaxation that dominate interfacial kinetics. Here, we introduce a fixed-charge-selective interphase in which immobile anionic charges replace mobile electrolyte anions as the primary charge-compensating species, thereby establishing a chemically encoded electrostatic boundary condition. Using a glucose-derived network as a model system, we show that localized fixed charge enables cation-selective transport and suppresses extended space-charge layers (ESCLs) by eliminating the slow relaxation pathways. Spatiotemporal transport analysis reveals that this interphase collapses multi-timescale interfacial relaxation into a unified kinetic regime. When applied to nanoliter-confined electrochemical systems (45 nL), rest-induced Coulombic efficiency (CE) collapse is reduced from 40% to 5%, demonstrating stabilization of electrostatic relaxation during idle periods, which is a failure mode intrinsic to microscale devices operating under duty cycles. The concept is further validated under pH-coupled and oxidative-stress conditions, sustaining stable operation with strong rate capability. These results define a general chemical strategy for regulating interfacial ion transport under confinement by replacing mobile charge compensation with molecularly fixed charges.

Angewandte Chemie International Edition
Chemnitz University of Technology (DE), Guangzhou Institute of Advanced Technology (CN), University of Göttingen (DE), University of Hong Kong (HK)
Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft, European Research Council
Openalex Percentile: Top 17%
Electrochemical Analysis and Applications
AI Navigator

Ask Laika to Summarize, Analyze, and Connect papers live on the map.

Summarize Papers & Methodologies

Extract key findings, datasets, and comparative methods across publications.

Benchmark Rankings & Visual Analytics

Rank top research institutions, authors, funders, topics, and journals by Field-Weighted Citation Impact (FWCI) and paper volume with instant charts.

Connect Distant Disciplines

Bridge topological clusters on the map to find hidden collaborative intersections.