In situ SERS and SHINERS study of electrochemical hydrogenation of p-ethynylaniline in nonaqueous solvents

Abstract

Surface-enhanced Raman spectroscopy (SERS) studies of electrode/solution interfaces are important for understanding electrochemical processes. However, revealing the nature of reactions at well-defined single crystal electrode surfaces, which are SERS-inactive, remains challenging. In this work, shell-isolated nanoparticle-enhanced Raman spectroscopy (SHINERS) was used for the first time to study electrochemical adsorption and hydrogenation reactions at single crystal surfaces in nonaqueous solvents. A roughened Au surface was also studied for comparison. The experimental results show that the hydrogenation of adsorbed p-ethynylaniline (PEAN) on roughened Au electrode surfaces occurred at very negative potentials in methanol because of the catalytic effect of surface plasmon resonance (SPR). However, because “hot electrons” were blocked by the silica shell of Au@SiO2 nanoparticles and aprotic acetonitrile was an ineffective hydrogen source, surface reactions at Au(111) were inhibited in the systems studied. Density functional theory (DFT) calculations revealed that the PEAN triple bond opened, allowing adsorption in a flat configuration on the Au(111) surface via two carbon atoms. This work provides an advanced understanding of electrochemical interfacial processes at single crystal surfaces in nonaqueous systems.