Optical fiber chemistry for catalysis: a programmable optical fiber membrane electrode platform for reaction chemistry and engineering
- 1Tsinghua University
- 2Xi’an Jiaotong–Liverpool University
Abstract
Optical fiber chemistry (OFC) is a catalytic platform in which optical fibers actively provide photon transport, interface construction, and process control. This article develops an optical fiber membrane electrode (OFME) framework encompassing architecture, mechanisms, process intensification, and programmable control. Its anode fiber catalytic layer–ion-exchange membrane–cathode fiber catalytic layer sandwich couples internal photon transport, charge transfer, ion conduction, catalytic sites, and fluid-phase mass transport within one membrane-electrode reaction domain. Equation-driven simulations examine model consistency and reactor design trends. A normalized separation of 0.1338 gives a coplanar factor of 0.882; first-order kinetics with a rate constant of 0.0568 min−1 gives 96.69% conversion after 60 min. At a dimensionless axial attenuation of 1, double-ended illumination increases the optical uniformity index from 0.712 to 0.963; at an attenuation of 3, the corresponding values are 0.186 and 0.721. Normalized rate scenarios of 1.00/1.45/2.35 generate distinct kinetic profiles for conventional electrolysis, externally illuminated photo-assisted electrolysis, and embedded OFME architectures. Interfacial chemistry, bubble coverage, membrane transport, energy efficiency, and scale-up are discussed for hydrogen and oxygen evolution, carbon dioxide reduction, and nitrogen reduction. An artificial-intelligence-assisted closed-loop framework treats light intensity, wavelength, potential, current, flow rate, temperature, and pH as executable reaction-engineering variables. OFC thus integrates internal light delivery, membrane-electrode reactions, catalytic process intensification, and digital control in a modularly scalable reaction platform.
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BibTeX
@misc{gu2026optical,
title = {{Optical fiber chemistry for catalysis: a programmable optical fiber membrane electrode platform for reaction chemistry and engineering}},
author = {Shiping Gu and Haitao Gu},
howpublished = {ChemRxiv},
year = {2026},
month = sep,
doi = {10.26434/chemrxiv.15008494/v1},
url = {https://chemrxiv.org/doi/full/10.26434/chemrxiv.15008494/v1},
note = {CC BY},
}
RIS
TY - UNPB
TI - Optical fiber chemistry for catalysis: a programmable optical fiber membrane electrode platform for reaction chemistry and engineering
AU - Shiping Gu
AU - Haitao Gu
PY - 2026
DA - 2026/09/08
PB - ChemRxiv
DO - 10.26434/chemrxiv.15008494/v1
UR - https://chemrxiv.org/doi/full/10.26434/chemrxiv.15008494/v1
AB - Optical fiber chemistry (OFC) is a catalytic platform in which optical fibers actively provide photon transport, interface construction, and process control. This article develops an optical fiber membrane electrode (OFME) framework encompassing architecture, mechanisms, process intensification, and programmable control. Its anode fiber catalytic layer–ion-exchange membrane–cathode fiber catalytic layer sandwich couples internal photon transport, charge transfer, ion conduction, catalytic sites, and fluid-phase mass transport within one membrane-electrode reaction domain. Equation-driven simulations examine model consistency and reactor design trends. A normalized separation of 0.1338 gives a coplanar factor of 0.882; first-order kinetics with a rate constant of 0.0568 min−1 gives 96.69% conversion after 60 min. At a dimensionless axial attenuation of 1, double-ended illumination increases the optical uniformity index from 0.712 to 0.963; at an attenuation of 3, the corresponding values are 0.186 and 0.721. Normalized rate scenarios of 1.00/1.45/2.35 generate distinct kinetic profiles for conventional electrolysis, externally illuminated photo-assisted electrolysis, and embedded OFME architectures. Interfacial chemistry, bubble coverage, membrane transport, energy efficiency, and scale-up are discussed for hydrogen and oxygen evolution, carbon dioxide reduction, and nitrogen reduction. An artificial-intelligence-assisted closed-loop framework treats light intensity, wavelength, potential, current, flow rate, temperature, and pH as executable reaction-engineering variables. OFC thus integrates internal light delivery, membrane-electrode reactions, catalytic process intensification, and digital control in a modularly scalable reaction platform.
ER -