♦ Abstract
The Butler-Volmer (BV) equation, originally  developed to fit Tafel's  rate law for lelectrolysis, has become the standard model for electrochemical reaction kinetics, and yet a century  later, it still lacks  a clear microscopic  basis. In 1936, Butler derived the BV equation from Gurney's  seminal "quantum theory  of electrolysis" (1932), which assumes  electron transfer (ET) of "neutalization" is  a fast step coupled to classical proton transfer. In 1956, Marcus  famously  challenged this  picture with his theory of ET coupled to solvent reorganization, rather than ion transfer. Here, we present a unified quantum theory  of coupled ion-electron transfer (CIET), which leads  to a simple rate formula that smoothly  interpolates  between Marcus-like and BV-like kinetics, depending on whether electron- or ion-transfer is  rate limiting, respectively.1 CIET  theory  provides  a powerful link  between quantum chemistry  and electrochemical engineering, as  illustrated by  examples  of ET-limited reaction kinetics in Li-ion2 and Li-air3 batteries  and IT-limited reaction kinetics  in electrocatalysis. For the first time, the theory  predicts  the metal-work-function dependence of BV kinetics  for the hydrogen evolution reaction (HER) in acid and provides  a mathematical framework  to predict electrochemical reaction rates  from ab initio quantum simulations, as  recently  demonstrated for lithium cobalt oxide (LCO) batteries with different electrolytes.⁴


♦ Biography
Martin  Z. Bazant is  the E. G. Roos  (1944) Professor of Chemical Engineering and Mathematics  at the Massachusetts  Institute of Technology  and a member of the National Academy  of Engineering J  After a Ph.D. in Physics  at Harvard (1997), he joined the MIT  faculty  in Mathematics  (1998) anl then Chemical Engineering (2008), where he served as  Executive Officer of the Departement from 2016 to 2020. His  awards  include the Kuznetsov  Prize in Theoretical Electrochemistry  (ISE), the Acrivos Award in Chemical Engineering (AIChE), and the MITx  Prize for Teaching in MOOCs. He is  a fellow of the International Society  of Electrochemistry, the Electrochemical Society, the Royal Society  of Chemistry, and the American Physical Society. He serves  as  President of the International Electrokinetics  Society, Director of the D3BATT  Center for Data-Driven Design of Batteries  (Toyota Research Institute), Director of the Center for Battery  Sustainability  (MIT-Northeastern), and Chief Scientific  Advisor for Saint-Gobain Research North America. He is  also the Chief Scientist and Co­ founder of Lithios, Inc. commercializing Advanced Lithium Extraction (ALE) from brines.

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