GOALI: Probing Temporospatial Correlations at the Nanoscale in High-Temperature Electrocatalysts

标题：目标：纳米尺度电催化剂局部活性成像的新型扫描探针方法我国未来能源基础设施的一个关键要求是能够有效地相互转换化学（燃料）和电力形式的能量。这种相互转化是通过在高温下使用氧化物电催化剂来促进的，它提供了分子和电子可以相互作用的高活性表面。不幸的是，控制电催化剂活性和降解的因素还不是很清楚。该项目旨在开发新的扫描探针方法，可以实时成像，并在高达500-600°C的操作过程中，以纳米分辨率在表面上发生反应的位置和时间进行成像。此次GOALI奖汇集了华盛顿大学电催化和扫描探针方法专家Stuart Adler教授和李江宇教授，以及扫描探针仪器领先开发商Asylum research研究人员负责人Roger Proksch博士，共同开发先进的高温扫描探针系统。该仪器和由此产生的研究工作将导致我们如何研究电催化剂的重大进展，并提供导致电催化新技术进步的关键见解。该项目还将为两名博士研究生提供高级研究生教育，为本科生提供研究机会，并支持西雅图地区K-12学生进行更深层次的科学教育。高温电催化剂开发面临的一个普遍挑战是缺乏对局部长度尺度（10-50 nm）的物理和化学速率的基本理解。越来越多的研究表明，这些靠近固-固或气-固界面的材料的组成、结构和性能与本体有很大的差异。该GOALI的目的是开发扫描探针技术（基于局部晶格应变、电导率和表面功函数的测量），以量化和成像原位条件下多孔高温电催化剂的局部速率。该项目旨在1)将应变、功函数和其他局部可测量的特性与带电缺陷浓度的变化联系起来；2)在工作电极上实施原位扫描探针技术，作为局部动力学的见证；3)扩展当前的实验能力，以达到更高的温度（500-600°C）。最终，多孔电极的活性区域将被成像为变量的函数，从而提取有关分子反应的相对速率、表面传输和在电极/电解质界面附近局部水平发生的体传输的基本信息。

Abstract Title: GOALI: New Scanning Probe Methods for Imaging Local Activity in Electrocatalysts on Nanometer Length ScalesA key requirement for our nation's future energy infrastructure is an ability to efficiently interconvert chemical (fuel) and electrical forms of energy. Such interconversion is facilitated by using oxide electrocatalysts at high temperature, which provide highly active surfaces upon which molecules and electrons can interact. Unfortunately the factors governing activity and degradation of electrocatalysts are not very well understood. This project seeks to develop new scanning probe methods that can image in real time, and during operation at up to 500-600°C, where and when reactions occur on the surface, with nanometer resolution. This GOALI award brings together Professors Stuart Adler and Jiangyu Li with expertise in electrocatalysis and scanning probe methods at the University of Washington and Dr. Roger Proksch, head of the research staff at Asylum Research, a leading developer of scanning probe instruments to develop an advanced high-temperature scanning probe system. This instrument and the resulting research work will lead to major advances in how we study electrocatalysts, as well as provide key insights leading to new technological advances in electrocatalysis. The project will also provide advanced graduate education to two PhD students, provide research opportunities for undergraduates, and support the mentorship of Seattle-area K-12 students in pursuing a deeper scientific education. A universal challenge facing development of high temperature electrocatalysts is a lack of fundamental understanding of physical and chemical rates at local length scales (10-50 nm). A growing body of research shows that the composition, structure, and properties of these materials near solid-solid or gas-solid interfaces deviate substantially from the bulk. The purpose of this GOALI is to develop scanning probe techniques (based on measurement of local lattice strain, conductivity, and surface work function) to quantify and image local rates in porous high-temperature electrocatalysts under in-situ conditions. This project seeks to 1) link strain, work function, and other locally measurable properties to variations in charged defect concentrations, 2) implement scanning probe techniques in-situ on working electrodes as witnesses of local dynamics, and 3) extend the current experimental capabilities to access higher temperatures (500-600°C). Ultimately, the active region of a porous electrode will be imaged as a function of variables, resulting in the extraction of basic information about relative rates of molecular reactions, surface transport, and bulk transport occurring at a local level near the electrode/electrolyte interface.