Gerund vs noun in academic writing

Question

I wonder what is the best way to describe things in an academic manuscript writing.

for example, I have a sentence

therefore, passivation of the surface or the introduction of additional interlayers between perovskite and ZnO improves the stability of the cells (that is a google translate version)

OR

therefore, passivating the surface or introducing additional interlayers between the perovskite and ZnO improves the stability of the cells (that is my initial version)

It is probably coming to a more general question: is it better to use a gerund or verb-based nouns in academic writing. Or no difference?

Thanks in advance!

Answer 1

The former is more common - Passivation and Introduction.

It is conventional in scientific writing to be as removed as possible from the suggestion of human interference. Hence the use of the third person rather than the first in papers.

The use of the noun form reads more naturally in this format. A gerund like passivating implies a deliberate action and gives an impression of inconsistency with the third-person narrative.