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Abstract

The rising demand for alternative energy sources has brought hydrogen‑based technologies to the forefront as promising contributors to future energy systems. As these technologies develop, a deeper understanding of the electrode–electrolyte interface becomes essential, along with mathematical models that accurately capture its behavior. This thesis presents the most widely used model equations for interpreting laboratory‑scale rotating disk electrode (RDE) experiments and evaluates how effectively it explains experimental data.
I begin by outlining the need for electrocatalysts in the context of the global climate crisis. Chapter 1 provides a brief overview of the key electrochemical phenomena occurring at the electrode–electrolyte interface. Chapter 2 introduces the fundamental equations and assumptions used to simulate RDE experiments, along with a short discussion on how simulations can be fitted to experimental data.
Building on this foundation, Chapter 3 presents ElectroKitty, a Python library I developed around the model described in Chapter 2. Using ElectroKitty, I analyze three RDE‑based systems (single-crystal Pt, polycrystalline Ni, and Ir nanoparticles) to explore the types of insights that can be extracted through mean‑field approximations. Chapters 4 through 6 examine these systems individually, progressing from the simplest to the most complex. Each chapter concludes with a short discussion of the specific conclusions that can be drawn for that system.
Finally, in the concluding chapter, I summarize the overall insights gained and discuss the types of conclusions that can reasonably be drawn from such models.