Regensburg 2019 – scientific programme

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O: Fachverband Oberflächenphysik

O 23: Solid-Liquid Interfaces II: Electrode Surfaces

O 23.1: Invited Talk

Tuesday, April 2, 2019, 10:30–11:00, H5

Investigating atomic scale structure of liquid metal–electrolyte interfaces — •Bridget M. Murphy — Ruprecht Haensel Laboratory — Institut für Experimentelle und Angewandte Physik, Christian-Albrechts-Universität zu Kiel, 24098 Kiel

Electrochemical interfaces between immiscible liquids have lately received renewed interest, both for gaining fundamental insight as well as for applications in nanomaterial synthesis. In this contribution, we demonstrate how the atomic scale structure of these previously inaccessible interfaces nowadays is explored by in situ synchrotron-based X-ray scattering techniques. Exemplary studies of a prototypical electrochemical system — a liquid mercury electrode in pure NaCl solution — reveal that the liquid metal is terminated by a well-defined atomic layer. This layering decays on length scales of 0.5 nm into the Hg bulk and displays a potential- and temperature-dependent behaviour that can be explained by electrocapillary effects and contributions of the electronic charge distribution on the electrode. In similar studies of nanomaterial growth, performed for the electrochemical deposition of PbFBr, a complex nucleation and growth behaviour is found, involving a crystalline precursor layer prior to the 3D crystal growth. Operando X-ray scattering measurements provide detailed data on the processes of nanoscale film formation [1].

[1] B. M. Murphy, S. Festersen, and O. M. Magnussen, Nanoscale, 2016, 8, 13859