Single-Molecule Imaging of the Electrode/Solution Interface

能量场和环境场中的许多电化学反应都会在电极表面形成气体。这些反应包括水的“分裂”促进了氢气和氧气的形成，燃料电池中甲醇和乙醇的氧化，以及电池中的充电和放电事件。尽管它们很重要，但由于缺乏适当的分析工具来成像纳米气泡，电极上小气泡的产生和生长仍然知之甚少。为了应对这一挑战，华盛顿大学张博教授的实验室开发了一种基于荧光的电化学方法，以成像电极/溶液界面上气体纳米气泡的形成方式和时间。这种方法的使用有可能促进能源和环境研究中许多电化学反应的更便宜和更有效的促进剂（催化剂）的发展。这项工作为研究生，本科生和高中生提供了一套综合教育活动和独特的培训机会，以学习电化学和显微镜的前沿研究。化学测量和成像项目将资助华盛顿大学的张博博士开发一种新的电分析方法来研究电极/溶液界面上气体纳米气泡的成核和生长。通过对电极上的单个纳米气泡进行单分子标记和荧光成像，该方法可以产生关于电极上气体演化过程的空间和时间分辨信息，否则使用许多其他成像技术（例如基于扫描探针的电化学显微镜）无法获得这些信息。绘制纳米气泡分布的能力可以提供关于电极表面催化非均质性的独特信息，这将有助于理解和设计新的更好的催化材料。该奖项反映了美国国家科学基金会的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的知识价值和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。

Many electrochemical reactions in the energy and environmental fields result in formation of gases at electrode surfaces. These reactions include facilitated formation of hydrogen and oxygen gases from the "splitting" of water, oxidation of methyl and ethyl alcohol in fuel cells, and charging and discharging events in batteries. Despite their importance, the initiation and growth of small gas bubbles on an electrode remain poorly understood due to a lack of proper analysis tools for imaging nanobubbles. To address this challenge, Professor Bo Zhang's laboratory at the University of Washington develops a fluorescence-based electrochemical method to image how and when gas nanobubbles are formed at the electrode/solution interface. The use of this method has the potential to promote the development of cheaper and more efficient facilitators (catalysts) for numerous electrochemical reactions in energy and environmental research. This work provides a set of integrated educational activities and a unique training opportunity for graduate, undergraduate, and high-school students to learn cutting-edge research in electrochemistry and microscopy.With this award, the Chemical Measurement and Imaging Program is funding Dr. Bo Zhang at the University of Washington to develop a new electroanalytical method to study nucleation and growth of gas nanobubbles at the electrode/solution interface. By single-molecule labeling and fluorescently imaging single nanobubbles on an electrode, this method yields spatially and temporally-resolved information about gas evolution processes on electrodes that is otherwise unobtainable using many other imaging techniques, such as scanning probe-based electrochemical microscopies. The ability to map nanobubble distribution may provide unique information about catalytic heterogeneity of electrode surfaces, which will help to understand and design new and better catalytic materials.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.