Water Electrolysis and Energy Harvesting with Zero-Dimensional Ion-Sensitive Field-Effect Transistors

The relationship of the gas bubble
size to the size distribution
critically influences the effectiveness of electrochemical processes.
Several optical and acoustical techniques have been used to characterize
the size and emission frequency of bubbles. Here, we used zero-dimensional
(0D) ion-sensitive field-effect transistors (ISFETs) buried under
a microbath to detect the emission of individual bubbles electrically
and to generate statistics on the bubble emission time. The bubble
size was evaluated via a simple model of the electrolytic current.
We suggest that energy lost during water electrolysis could be used
to generate electric pulses at an optimal efficiency with an array
of 0D ISFETs.