# Quantum Rate Dynamics for Coherent Electron Transport at Material/Electrolyte Interfaces

## TL;DR

This paper unifies physics and chemistry concepts to explain electron transport at material/electrolyte interfaces using quantum mechanics.

## Contribution

It introduces quantum rate dynamics that connect coherent transport with electron-transfer rates in electrolytes.

## Key findings

- Coherent quantum dynamics modulate electron motion in electrolytes even at room temperature.
- Quantum transport explains redox switches, Geobacter respiration, and supercapacitance in graphene.
- Traditional reorganization energy (λ₀) is insufficient for low-frequency electrochemical reactions.

## Abstract

Nanoscale electronics and electrochemistry are both based
on the
fundamental principles of electron motion at the material/electrolyte
interfaces. Despite this common ground, these fields use distinct
conceptual frameworks: physicists favor coherent electron transport,
while chemists rely on kinetic electron transfer. In this work, we
present the fundamental quantum-mechanical principles that unify these
approaches, linking quantum transport to the electron-transfer rate
constant in an electrolyte environment. We show thateven at
room temperatureelectron motion between quantum states, which
appears as a slow kinetic rate, is in fact driven by underlying coherent
quantum dynamics, modulated by the electrolyte’s damping. This
coherent transport determines the kinetics of redox switches, controls
biological processes such as Geobacter respiration, enables the development
of in situ spectroscopic techniques, and accounts
for the charge dynamics observed in reduced graphene oxide supercapacitance.
As a result, these approaches provide a way to measure the electronic
structure of quantum dots and graphene at energies below the radio
frequency range. In light of these findings, we discuss the limitations
of the traditional reorganization energy (λ0), which
has been used to quantify the low-frequency rate of reaction dynamics
in electrochemistry, and propose its replacement with measurable quantum
circuit parameters intrinsic to the material’s electronic structure.