Adlattice structure and hydrophobicity of Pt (111) in aqueous potassium iodide solutions

Adsorption and assembly of ions and organic molecules at electrochemical interfaces: nanoscale aspects

We describe the history of electrochemical scanning tunneling microscopy (STM) and advances made in this field during the past 20 years. In situ STM allows one to monitor various electrode processes, such as the underpotential deposition of copper and silver ions; the specific adsorption of iodine and sulfate/bisulfate ions; electrochemical dissolution processes of silicon and gold single-crystal surfaces in electrolyte solutions; and the molecular assembly of metalloporphyrins, metallophthalocyanines, and fullerenes, at atomic and/or molecular resolution. Furthermore, a laser confocal microscope, combined with a differential interference contrast microscope, enables investigation of the dynamics of electrochemical processes at atomic resolution.

Ultrafine sputter-deposited Pt nanoparticles for triiodide reduction in dye-sensitized solar cells: impact of nanoparticle size, crystallinity and surface coverage on catalytic activity

This paper presents a detailed electrochemical impedance spectroscopy and cyclic voltammetry (CV) investigation into the electrocatalytic activity of ultrafine (i.e., smaller than 2 nm) platinum (Pt) nanoparticles generated on a fluorine-doped tin oxide (FTO) surface via room temperature tilted target sputter deposition. In particular, the Pt-decorated FTO electrode surfaces were tested as counter electrode candidates for triiodide (I3(-)) reduction in dye-sensitized solar cells (DSSCs). We observed a direct correlation between size-dependent Pt nanoparticle crystallinity and the I3(-) reduction activity underlying DSSC performance. CV analysis confirmed the higher electrocatalytic activities of sputter-deposited crystalline Pt nanoparticles (1-2 nm) compared with either sub-nanometre Pt clusters or a continuous Pt thin film. While the low catalytic activity and DSSC performance of Pt clusters smaller in size than 1 nm is believed to arise from their non-crystalline nature and charge-trapping attributes, we attribute the high catalytic performance of larger Pt nanoparticles in the 1-2 nm regime to their well-defined crystallinity and fast electron transfer kinetics. For DSSC applications, the optimized Pt loading was calculated to be ~2.54 × 10(-7) g cm(-2), which corresponds to surface coverage by ~1.6 nm sized Pt nanoparticles.

Detailed characterization of (3 x 3) iodine adlayer on Pt(111) by unequal-sphere packing model

A simple unequal-sphere packing model is applied to study the iodine (3x3) adlayer on the Pt(111) surface. By using a newly introduced parameter, defined as the average adsorbate height, three characteristic adlattices, (3x3)-sym, (3x3)-asym, and (3x3)-lin, have been selected and characterized in great detail, including the exact adatom registry. The (3x3)-sym iodine adlattice, observed in many experimental studies, appears to be, on average, the closest one to the substrate surface. A special contour plot of average adsorbate height vs X and Y positions of the (3x3) iodine unit cell indicates the existence of two local minima, which are related to preferential formation of (3x3)-sym and (3x3)-asym iodine adlattices. Our model gives good agreement with experimental findings, and explains the mechanism of preferential appearance of (3x3)-sym and (3x3)-asym structures.

The Study of Solid/Liquid Interfaces with X-ray Standing Waves

The principles and applications of the x-ray standing wave technique are described. Emphasis is placed on its utility for the study of structure, composition, and distribution of interfacial species especially at solid/liquid interfaces.