design note · computed
Three papers converge on the plate face: roughness → material/polarity → gas film
All three reference papers point at the electrode-water interface as the governing region for the WFC, and map cleanly onto the Figure-8 / EDL-vs-Faradaic / vapor-film-Townsend framework. (1) Surface roughness & effective area set WHERE field-enhanced breakdown starts (microprotrusion hot-spots). (2) Electrode material & polarity set ion injection → water conductivity creep → Faradaic leakage growth (SS + negative bias minimizes it). (3) The bubble/gas film is the low-density layer that both lowers local conductivity and hosts impact ionization / Townsend discharge. Design corollary for staying in the sub-critical corner: polished stainless plates, effective area no larger than required, cathode-favored (negative) bias, and active management of the gas film (measurable as void fraction via resistivity). Roughness, material, polarity, and gas-film thickness are all levers on the same amp-leakage the US 4,798,661 control circuit exists to suppress.
Basis
- Confidence
- 0.75
- Recorded
- Published
- 30 Aug 2026
- Component
- wfc
- Source Ref
- Synthesis of pages 4296 / 4297 / 4298 (Plasma & DBD Research)
- Notebook Id
- 1654
- Source Page Id
- 4297
synthesis figure-8 edl vapor-film townsend electrode