Wien effect in interfacial water dissociation through proton-permeable graphene electrodes

Strong electric fields can accelerate molecular dissociation reactions. The phenomenon known as the Wien effect was previously observed using high-voltage electrolysis cells that produced fields of about 107 V m−1, sufficient to accelerate the dissociation of weakly bound molecules (e.g., organics and weak electrolytes). The observation of the Wien effect for the common case of water dissociation (H2O $$\leftrightarrows$$ ⇆ H+ + OH−) has remained elusive. Here we study the dissociation of interfacial water adjacent to proton-permeable graphene electrodes and observe strong acceleration of the reaction in fields reaching above 108 V m−1. The use of graphene electrodes allows measuring the proton currents arising exclusively from the dissociation of interfacial water, while the electric field driving the reaction is monitored through the carrier density induced in graphene by the same field. The observed exponential increase in proton currents is in quantitative agreement with Onsager’s theory. Our results also demonstrate that graphene electrodes can be valuable for the investigation of various interfacial phenomena involving proton transport.