An Electrical Transport Spectroscopy (ETS) Approach for in situ Probing Electrochemical Interfaces

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In this project funded by the Chemical Measurement and Imaging program of the Chemistry Division, Professor Yu Huang of the University of California Los Angeles is establishing an electrical transport spectroscopy (ETS) measurement approach for in situ probing electrochemical surface of metallic nanomaterials during electrocatalytic reactions. Their study can offer new fundamental insights on the correlation between the structural/compositional/chemical characteristics of diverse electrocatalysts with their electrocatalytic performance, leading to the development of a new generation of highly efficient and stable electrocatalysts for diverse energy technologies and improved energy efficiency, including fuel cells, batteries, and other important electrochemical and photochemical processes. The research program will actively recruit female students and students from underrepresented groups to participate in the proposed research. Through existing school programs, Professor Huang will continue to design science projects and offer research opportunities for local and national high school students.With a specially designed device structure based on metallic nanowires and electronic measurement configuration, Professor Huang's group will conduct in situ electrical transport measurement of the metallic nanowires, simultaneously with in-device cyclic voltammetry. This method exploits the surface-adsorption induced diffusive scattering to produce an electronic signaling pathway for in situ monitoring of the electrochemical interfaces between the metallic nanostructures and electrolyte under different electrochemical conditions. After initial validation on the ultra-fine platinum nanowires (PtNWs) model system they will conduct systematic investigations of a wide range of nano-electrocatalysts for fundamentally and/or practically important electrochemical processes.