Development and Acquisition of Surface Sensitive Electrochemical Instrumentation using Evanescent Wave and Nonlinear-Optical Techniques for Research and Education

这笔赠款支持休斯顿大学使用逝去波和非线性光学技术开发和获取表面灵敏电化学仪器，用于研究和教学。新的表面灵敏光谱和微观电化学仪器的发展将同时完成：1)扫描探针显微镜(SPM)和表面等离子体光谱(SPS)与电化学方法相结合；2)和频产生(SFG)和扫描近场光学显微镜(SNOM)与电化学方法相结合。这两个独特的系统将在原子力显微镜(AFM)和SNOM的形态和纳米尺度成像的同时，提供电化学现象中的原位线性和非线性光学和光谱信息。这些仪器将对电极/电解液界面的研究以及用电化学方法合成和研究材料产生影响。重点是将这两种仪器和方法应用于已有的电化学研究方法，如循环伏安法、恒电位法、安培实验等。通过同时耦合光学消逝光谱和扫描探针显微镜，可以完成对电化学循环每个阶段的时间和空间性质的独特表征。这也将促进纳米级测量和分析的技术水平，特别是随着扫描电子显微镜分辨率方法的提高。通过在电化学实验的同时在表面上进行SFG，可以直接确定分子在固液界面的取向和张量参数。所有这些研究同样适用于界面处的纳米材料，例如纳米颗粒、纳米光刻图案和纳米尺度杂化材料系统。这两种互补的能力将创造一个独特的光学、电化学和扫描电子显微镜系统，在界面电化学中有广泛的应用。休斯顿大学拥有强大的材料研究计划和教师队伍，将从这些仪器中受益匪浅。经过开发和优化，这些仪器将过渡到更广泛的科学界。这将通过与大学、政府和卓越的工业研究中心的各种合作来实现。两名有仪器开发经验的研究生和一名本科生将在不同阶段参与配置和开发新仪器。他们将极大地受益于这些工具将提供的独特的研究和教育机会。他们还将作为专家培训员，向其他学生和合作者传播乐器的使用。

This grant supports the development and acquisition of surface sensitive electrochemical instrumentation using evanescent wave and nonlinear-optical techniques for research and education at the University of Houston. The development of new surface sensitive spectroscopic and microscopic electrochemical instrumentation will be accomplished by simultaneously: 1) combining scanning probe microscopy (SPM) and surface plasmon spectroscopy (SPS) with electrochemical methods, and 2) combining sum-frequency generation (SFG) and scanning near-field optical microscopy (SNOM) with electrochemical methods. These two unique systems will give in-situ linear and nonlinear optical and spectroscopic information in electrochemical phenomena simultaneous with morphological and nanoscale imaging from atomic force microscopy (AFM) and SNOM. These instruments will impact the study of electrode/electrolyte interfaces and the synthesis and investigation of materials by electrochemical methods. A focus is on applying the two instruments and methods on established electrochemical investigative methods, e.g. cyclic voltammetry, potentiostatic, amperometric experiments, etc. By simultaneously coupling optical evanescent spectroscopies and scanning probe microscopies, unique characterization of temporal and spatial properties at each stage of an electrochemical cycle can be accomplished. This will also advance the state of the art in nanometer-scale measurement and analysis especially with increasing SPM resolution methods. By conducting SFG on surfaces simultaneous with the electrochemistry experiment, orientational and tensor parameters of molecules directly at the solid-liquid interface can be determined. All these studies are likewise applicable to nanoscale materials at the interface, e.g. nanoparticles, nanolithographic patterns, and nanoscale hybrid materials systems. These two complementary capabilities will create a unique optical, electrochemical, and SPM system with wide applications in interface electrochemistry.The University of Houston has a strong materials research program and faculty that will greatly benefit from these instruments. These instruments will be transitioned to the broader scientific community after development and optimization. This will be done through various collaborations with university, government, and industrial research centers of excellence. Two graduate students experienced in instrumentation development and an undergraduate will participate in configuring and developing the new instruments at various stages. They will greatly benefit from the unique research and education opportunities these instruments will provide. They will also serve as expert trainers in disseminating the use of the instrumentation to other students and collaborators.