Examples, Perspectives, and Impact of in-Operando Electrochemistry & Electrodeposition

Abstract

In order to leave our children not with a huge problem in the future, we quickly have to realize the energy transition to renewable and CO2 neutral sources and circuits, which implies the introduction of the complete H2 economy. In addition, the ever ongoing demand and progress in electronics requires new and smart steps from the semiconducting industry pushing the border for device fabrication and thus material science and nanotechnology.Both extremely important topics crucially depend on the complete understanding of the fundamental atomic processes for device or catalyst manufacturing by electrodeposition as well as their stability during operation under (electrochemical) application.The general problem, however, has been formulated nicely already by Wolfgang Pauli:„God made the bulk; surfaces were invented by the devil.“It took around two decades, before most of the basic concepts and atomic effects have been observed and understood in standard, ultra-high vacuum (UHV) surface science and nanotechnology. Now, it is surely time to open a similar book and start from scratch, as atoms and surfaces in electrochemical environment clearly behave differently than in UHV. Moreover, this time it is not enough to measure after the deposition, after the growth, after the nucleation, or after a reaction!Both electrochemical data clearly show that many surfaces change during application and the complex understanding during electrodepostion, which involves a huge parameter space of tunable variables, can surely only be addressed adequately by in operando measurements.In this talk, I will show examples from in operando measurements ranging from STM over TEM to SXRD and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy that all demonstrate the power and perspective for gaining new insight. Figure 1