| Pacific Rim Symposium on Surfaces, Coatings and Interfaces (PacSurf 2014) | |
| Energy Harvesting & Storage | Thursday Sessions |
| Session EH-ThM |
| Session: | Nanotechnology & Energy |
| Presenter: | Vojislav Stamenkovic, Argonne National Laboratory |
| Correspondent: | Click to Email |
Research that is aimed to fundamental understanding of processes for electrochemical energy conversion and storage will be presented. Atomic scale insight at the topmost surface layer is essential in order to understand and control properties of catalytically active materials. Therefore, well-defined surfaces have been in focus of our research that is executed in ultra-high vacuum (UHV) systems merged with electrochemical cells. Properties such as surface structure, surface and bulk compositions, electronic properties and surface defects are established by UHV surface specific tools. Well-characterized surfaces are then transferred to the ambient pressure electrochemical cell under strictly controlled conditions, and formed electrified solid-liquid interface is being characterized in order to obtain direct correlation between fundamental properties of materials and electrochemical behavior.
Our recent work, has been demonstrated that fine tuning of surface properties can lead towards unprecedented improvements in their functional behavior [1]. This presentation will address unique approach that is capable of utilizing structure-function relationships in the design of multimetallic materials for electrochemical systems. The following topics will be discussed: 1) well-defined materials obtained by varying their surface structure, composition profile and electronic properties in UHV; 2) atomic/molecular insight into formation of the electrified solid-liquid interfaces; 3) identification of the active and the most vulnerable surface sites under reaction conditions; 4) insight into chemical nature between the surface atoms, reactants, and molecular species in the electrolyte; 5) design and synthesis of tailored nanomaterials with desired size, shape and composition profile [2,3]; 6) ex-situ and in-situ characterization of tailored electrochemical interfaces.
This synergistic approach encompasses highly diverse experimental methods that span from UHV to rational synthesis of nanomaterials, has been proven to serve as a foundation in the development of practical materials for electrochemical applications such as batteries, fuel cells and electrolyzers. Reaction rates and durability of tailored nanomaterials for the electrochemical oxygen reduction, hydrogen evolution and hydrogen oxidation are improved over 30-fold compared to state of the art catalysts.
References:
[1] Stamenkovic et al. Science 315 (2007) 493.
[2] Stamenkovic et al. Nature Mat. 6 (2007) 241.
[3] Chen et al. Science 343 (2014) 1339.