Proceedings of nanoGe Fall Meeting 2021 (NFM21)
DOI: https://doi.org/10.29363/nanoge.nfm.2021.254
Publication date: 23rd September 2021
A very important parameter for the electrocatalytic performance of a material is its potential of zero free charge (pzfc). For Cu(111) at pH 13 it was identified at −0.73 VSHE in the apparent double layer region.1,2 It shifts by (88 ± 4) mV to more positive potentials per decreasing pH unit.2 At the pzfc, Cu(111) starts to restructure. At higher potentials, full reconstruction and electric field dependent OH adsorption occur, causing a remarkable decrease in the atomic density of the first Cu layer.2
It is this restructuring that leads to the ability of Cu(111) to efficiently oxidize CO and to reduce water. Therefore, knowledge of the surface structure and the position of the pzfc is of paramount importance for the understanding of copper’s catalytic properties and for the rational design of electrocatalysts, in general.
CO is a key intermediate in the electro-oxidation of energy carrying fuels and known to act as a catalyst poison. Single-crystal Cu(111) model catalysts can efficiently electro-oxidize CO in alkaline media,3 where strong surface structural changes are observed under reaction conditions with electrochemical scanning tunneling microscopy (EC-STM). Supported by first-principles microkinetic modelling, we have shown that the concomitant presence of high-energy undercoordinated Cu structures at the surface is a prerequisite for the high activity. In water electrolyzers, it is possible to produce H2 in the course of the hydrogen evolution reaction (HER), which was studied with Ni(OH)2 modified Cu(111) electrodes in alkaline media.4 Strong morphological changes upon adatom modification lead to a significant HER rate enhancement. Intriguingly, this is induced through a decrease of the electric field strength negative of the potential of zero charge. This implies an easier reorganization of the interfacial water molecules facilitating charge transfer through the double layer, and thus enhancing the efficiency of electrocatalytic reactions.
References
[1] P. Sebastián-Pascual, F.J. Sarabia, V. Climent, J. Feliu, M. Escudero-Escribano, J. Phys. Chem. C 124 (2020) 23253.
[2] A. Auer, X. Ding, A. S. Bandarenka, J. Kunze-Liebhäuser, J. Phys. Chem. C 125 (2021) 5020.
[3] A. Auer, M. Andersen, E.M. Wernig, N.G. Hörmann, N. Buller, K. Reuter, J. Kunze-Liebhäuser, Nat. Catal. 3 (2020) 797.
[4] A. Auer, F.J. Sarabia, D. Winkler, C. Griesser, V. Climent, J.M. Feliu, J. Kunze-Liebhäuser, ACS Catal. 11 (2021) 10324.
nanoGe is a prestigious brand of successful science conferences that are developed along the year in different areas of the world since 2009. Our worldwide conferences cover cutting-edge materials topics like perovskite solar cells, photovoltaics, optoelectronics, solar fuel conversion, surface science, catalysis and two-dimensional materials, among many others.
Previously nanoGe Spring Meeting (NSM) and nanoGe Fall Meeting (NFM), MATSUS is a multiple symposia conference focused on a broad set of topics of advanced materials preparation, their fundamental properties, and their applications, in fields such as renewable energy, photovoltaics, lighting, semiconductor quantum dots, 2-D materials synthesis, charge carriers dynamics, microscopy and spectroscopy semiconductors fundamentals, etc.
International Conference on Hybrid and Organic Photovoltaics
International Conference on Hybrid and Organic Photovoltaics (HOPV) is celebrated yearly in May. The main topics are the development, function and modeling of materials and devices for hybrid and organic solar cells. The field is now dominated by perovskite solar cells but also other hybrid technologies, as organic solar cells, quantum dot solar cells, and dye-sensitized solar cells and their integration into devices for photoelectrochemical solar fuel production.
Asia-Pacific International Conference on Perovskite, Organic Photovoltaics and Optoelectronics
The main topics of the Asia-Pacific International Conference on Perovskite, Organic Photovoltaics and Optoelectronics (IPEROP) are discussed every year in Asia-Pacific for gathering the recent advances in the fields of material preparation, modeling and fabrication of perovskite and hybrid and organic materials. Photovoltaic devices are analyzed from fundamental physics and materials properties to a broad set of applications. The conference also covers the developments of perovskite optoelectronics, including light-emitting diodes, lasers, optical devices, nanophotonics, nonlinear optical properties, colloidal nanostructures, photophysics and light-matter coupling.
The International Conference on Perovskite Thin Film Photovoltaics Perovskite Photonics and Optoelectronics (NIPHO) is the best place to hear the latest developments in perovskite solar cells as well as on recent advances in the fields of perovskite light-emitting diodes, lasers, optical devices, nanophotonics, nonlinear optical properties, colloidal nanostructures, photophysics and light-matter coupling.