Active Micelle Pumping Channel Triggers Nonequilibrium Surface Excess Aggregation

Adsorbate transport during the electrochemical processmostly followsthe electric-field direction or the high-to-low direction along theconcentration gradient and thus often limits the reactant concentrationat the adsorption site and requires specific mechanical or chemicalbonds of adsorbates to trigger local excess aggregation for advancedframework structure assembly. Herein, we have discovered an activepumping channel during electrochemical adsorption of a manganese colloid,which follows a low-to-high direction inverse concentration gradient.It triggers surface excess micelle aggregation with even over 16-foldshigher concentration than that in bulk owing to hydrogen-bonding differenceof the micelle surface between in bulk and at the water surface. Micellesin the channel exhibit unique polymerization behaviors by directlypolymerizing monomer micelles to form highly catalytic MnO2 of dendritic frameworks, which can serve as a scalable thin-layeraqueous-phase reactor. It increases the understanding of the interface-dependentdynamic nature of micelle or more adsorbates and inspires transformativesynthesizing approaches for advanced oxide materials.