The Au(111)/Electrolyte Interface: A Tunnel-Spectroscopic and DFT Investigation

Structure of the (Bi)carbonate Adlayer on Cu(100) Electrodes

(Bi)carbonate adsorption on Cu(100) in 0.1 M KHCO₃ has been studied by in situ scanning tunneling microscopy. Coexistence of different ordered adlayer phases with ( 2 ${\sqrt{2}}$ ×6 2 ${\sqrt{2}}$ )R45° and (4×4) unit cells was observed in the double layer potential regime. The adlayer is rather dynamic and undergoes a reversible order-disorder phase transition at 0 V vs. the reversible hydrogen electrode. Density functional calculations indicate that the adlayer consists of coadsorbed carbonate and water molecules and is strongly stabilized by liquid water in the adjacent electrolyte.

Identification of electrochemically adsorbed species via electrochemical microcalorimetry: sulfate adsorption on Au(111)

We investigate compositional changes of an electrochemical interface upon polarization with electrochemical microcalorimetry. From the heat exchanged at a Au(111) electrode upon sulfate adsorption, we determine the reaction entropy of the adsorption process for both neutral and acidic solutions, where the dominant species in solution changes from SO₄²⁻ to HSO₄⁻. In neutral solution, the reaction entropy is about 40 J mol⁻¹ K⁻¹ more positive than that in acidic solution over the complete sulfate adsorption region. This entropy offset is explicable by a deprotonation step of HSO₄⁻ preceding sulfate adsorption in acidic solution, which shows that the adsorbing species is SO₄* in both solutions. The observed overall variation of the reaction entropy in the sulfate adsorption region of ca. 80 J mol⁻¹ K⁻¹ indicates significant sulfate‐coverage dependent entropic contributions to the Free Enthalpy of the surface system.

In Situ Quantification of the Local Electrocatalytic Activity via Electrochemical Scanning Tunneling Microscopy

Identification of catalytically active sites at solid/liquid interfaces under reaction conditions is an essential task to improve the catalyst design for sustainable energy devices. Electrochemical scanning tunneling microscopy (EC-STM) combines the control of the surface reactions with imaging on a nanoscale. When performing EC-STM under reaction conditions, the recorded analytical signal shows higher fluctuations (noise) at active sites compared to non-active sites (noise-EC-STM or n-EC-STM). In the past, this approach has been proven as a valid tool to identify the location of active sites. In this work, the authors show that this method can be extended to obtain quantitative information of the local activity. For the platinum(111) surface under oxygen reduction reaction conditions, a linear relationship between the STM noise level and a measure of reactivity, the turn-over frequency is found. Since it is known that the most active sites for this system are located at concave sites, the method has been applied to quantify the activity at steps. The obtained activity enhancement factors appeared to be in good agreement with the literature. Thus, n-EC-STM is a powerful method not only to in situ identify the location of active sites but also to determine and compare local reactivity.

Adsorption of Acetate on Au(111): An in-situ Scanning Tunnelling Microscopy Study and Implications on Formic Acid Electrooxidation

The adsorption of acetate on an Au(111) electrode surface in contact with acetic acid at pH 2.7 was imaged in-situ using scanning tunnelling microscopy (STM). Two different ordered structures were imaged for acetate adsorbed in the bidentate configuration on the unreconstructed 1 × 1 surface at 0.95 V (vs. the saturated calomel electrode, SCE). The first structure, ( 19 × 19 ) R 23 . 45 ∘ , is metastable and transforms at constant potential within 20 minutes to a ( 2 × 2 ) structure, which is thermodynamically more favourable. The ( 2 × 2 ) acetate adlayer starts to form at step edges and propagates via nucleation and growth onto terraces. The findings from in-situ STM are in agreement with the electrochemical behaviour of acetate on Au(111) characterized by voltammetry. A comparison is made with formate adsorption on Au(111). While acetate is not reactive, in contrast to formate, it can act as a spectator species in formic acid electrooxidation.

Mechanistic Insights into the Unique Role of Copper in CO2 Electroreduction Reactions

Cu demonstrates a unique capability towards CO₂ electroreduction that can close the anthropogenic carbon cycle; however, its reaction mechanism remains elusive, owing to the obscurity of the solid-liquid interface on Cu surfaces where electrochemical reactions occur. Using a genetic algorithm method in addition to density functional theory, we explicitly identify the configuration of a water bilayer on Cu(2 1 1) and build electrochemical models. These enable us to reveal a mechanistic picture for CO₂ electroreduction, finding the key intermediates CCO* for the C₂ H₄ pathway and CH* for the CH₄ pathway, which rationalize a series of experimental observations. Furthermore, we find that the interplay between the Cu surfaces, carbon monomers, and water network (but not the binding of CO*) essentially determine the unique capability of Cu towards CO₂ electroreduction, proposing a new and effective descriptor for exploiting optimal catalysts.

Non-covalent interactions at electrochemical interfaces: one model fits all?

The shift with increasing concentration of alkali-metal cations of the potentials of both the spike and the hump observed in the cyclic voltammograms of Pt(111) electrodes in sulfuric acid solutions is shown to obey the simple model recently developed by us to explain the effect of non-covalent interactions at the electrical double layer. The results suggest that the model, originally developed to describe the effect of alkali-metal cations on the cyclic voltammogram of cyanide-modified Pt(111) electrodes, is of general applicability and can explain quantitatively the effect of cations on the properties of the electrical double layer.

Electrochemical tunnelling sensors and their potential applications

The quantum-mechanical tunnelling effect allows charge transport across nanometre-scale gaps between conducting electrodes. Application of a voltage between these electrodes leads to a measurable tunnelling current, which is highly sensitive to the gap size, the voltage applied and the medium in the gap. Applied to liquid environments, this offers interesting prospects of using tunnelling currents as a sensitive tool to study fundamental interfacial processes, to probe chemical reactions at the single-molecule level and to analyse the composition of biopolymers such as DNA, RNA or proteins. This offers the possibility of a new class of sensor devices with unique capabilities.