Scientific Achievement
In situ/operando soft x-ray spectroscopy characterizations of interfacial phenomena reveal the mechanism of charge transfer and chemical transformations of solid/gas and solid/liquid interfaces of energy storage and catalytic materials in realistic environments. The unique design of the instrumentation, the fabrication principle and examples of experiments are presented.
Significance and Impact
Such interfacial phenomena are critically significant in the understanding of the mechanism of charge transfer in energy storage and catalytic reactions, and the probing of such species is only possible under operando conditions. The design of the in situ/operando instrument to probe the interfaces at (near-)ambient pressure and higher pressures will benefit future design of novel energy-storage devices.
Research Details
- A summary was made as a table regarding the soft x-ray absorption spectroscopy regarding its bulk- (TFY) and surface- (TEY) sensitivity on the unoccupied states.
- In situ/operando cell enables the probing of liquids and solid/liquid interfaces.
- The high-pressure cell enables the probing of high-pressure catalytic processes.