Second harmonic generation study on electrochemical deposition of palladium on a polycrystalline gold electrode

Construction of multilayers of bare and Pd modified gold nanoclusters and their electrocatalytic properties for oxygen reduction

Multilayers of gold nanoclusters (GNCs) coated with a thin Pd layer were constructed using GNCs modified with self-assembled monolayers (SAMs) of mercaptoundecanoic acid and a polyallylamine hydrochloride (PAH) multilayer assembly, which has been reported to act as a three-dimensional electrode. SAMs were removed from GNCs by electrochemical anodic decomposition and then a small amount of Pd was electrochemically deposited on the GNCs. The kinetics of the oxygen reduction reaction (ORR) on the Pd modified GNC/PAH multilayer assembly was studied using a rotating disk electrode, and a significant increase in the ORR rate was observed after Pd deposition. Electrocatalytic activities in alkaline and acidic solutions were compared both for the GNC multilayer electrode and Pd modified GNC electrode.

Electrodeposition of flattened Cu nanoclusters on a p-GaAs(001) electrode monitored by in situ optical second harmonic generation

In situ optical second harmonic generation (SHG) technique was employed to investigate the shape and density of Cu nanoclusters, which were electrochemically formed on p-GaAs(001) electrode surfaces. Since GaAs is not a centrosymmetric medium, a significant portion of SHG signal arises from the bulk dipole susceptibility, but it was possible to separate a surface-induced signal from a bulk-induced signal by choosing an appropriate experimental geometry and appropriate data processing. The rotational anisotropy (RA) pattern of the SHG signal from a p-GaAs(001) electrode changed in both shape and magnitude during potential cycling in an electrolyte solution containing Cu2+. The surface plasmon-induced SHG signal from Cu nanoclusters deposited on GaAs was attributed to the modulation source for the RA-SHG pattern. More detailed study was carried out with both in situ SHG and ex situ AFM measurements for Cu nanoclusters deposited by potential step. The results showed that the SHG signal at the present optical geometry was sensitive to the number of oblate or flattened Cu nanoclusters with lateral diameter larger than 30 nm and that the SHG enhancement occurred because of resonant coupling between the surface plasmon induced in the flattened Cu nanoclusters and the near-infrared fundamental light.

Optical Recognition of Surface Chirality at Au(hkl) Single Crystalline Surfaces by Second Harmonic Generation Rotational Anisotropy

Two-dimensional chirality at naturally chiral gold single crystalline surfaces was detected and characterized using optical second harmonic generation (SHG) measurements. SHG rotational anisotropy (SH-RA) patterns at Au(643)S and Au(643)R surfaces were mirror symmetric to each other. Systematic SH-RA measurements at chiral Au(hkl) surfaces with the same step and kink structures but different (111) terrace widths showed a linear correlation between surface step density and SH-RA fitting parameters arising from defects. These results indicate that SH-RA measurements provide information not only on surface chirality but also on density of surface defects.