In daily lives, there are many applications relying on electrochemistry, a branch of chemistry that deals with interconversion of chemical energy and electrical energy. For example, batteries convert stored chemical energy into electrical energy inside devices like smartphones. Electrocatalysts are types of chemicals which can increase the speed, efficiency and selectivity of electrochemical reactions that happen on electrode surfaces. Nanomaterials are especially excellent electrocatalysts due to larger number of reactive atoms on the surfaces compared to those on bulk materials as well as their flexibility for post-processing. On the other hand, the role of electrocatalysts play during electrochemical reactions is difficult to interpret because of the complexity of nanomaterial itself as well as chemical reactions that happen at the interface of solid electrodes and liquid electrolytes.
The aim of the talk is to introduce a state-of-the-art spectroscopic technique based on infrared spectroscopy that can be used to characterize the chemical species adsorbed on the electrode surfaces and provide ample information about the changes in the structures of adsorbed species under different conditions.
- Webinar
- Micro and Nanotechnologies
