SKM 2023 – scientific programme

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O: Fachverband Oberflächenphysik

O 60: Solid-Liquid Interfaces I: Structure and Spectroscopy

O 60.5: Talk

Wednesday, March 29, 2023, 16:00–16:15, TRE Phy

Watching Redox Activation of Gold for Water Electrolysis live: An in-situ Experiment at Home — Christoph Griesser, Daniel Winkler, Toni Moser, Engelbert Portenkirchner, and •Julia Kunze-Liebhäuser — Institute of Physical Chemistry, University of Innsbruck, Innrain 52c, Innsbruck, 6020 Austria

A fundamental understanding of processes that take place at the solid/liquid interface is of utmost importance for a rational design of (electro-)catalysts, and key for advancing energy conversion and storage technologies. We could show with in-situ electrochemical near ambient pressure X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (NAP-XPS) that metallic Au, in alkaline media, reversibly oxidizes to Au⁺ at potentials prior to and during the early oxygen evolution reaction (OER), while it reversibly oxidizes to Au³⁺ at potentials where the OER takes place at high rates. This has previously not been clearly demonstrated in-situ, so that the redox chemistry of Au in alkaline media remains a highly debated topic in the electrochemical community to date. We demonstrate the implementation of a simple, affordable and in-situ/operando- method to track dynamic processes taking place at the electrified solid/liquid interface, utilizing a lab-based NAP-XPS system with a conventional Al Kα X-ray source. The method has the potential to become a gamechanger in applied (electro-)catalysis research, which makes our contribution appealing for scientists following either fundamental or applied research interests.