Developing Electrochemical Structure-Function Relationships in Non-aqueous Electrolytes

发现控制电化学反应的基本原理是设计用于一系列科学应用的新材料的关键。这样的信息只能从模型系统中获得明确定义的元素反应位点，使用国家的最先进的仪器探针。在这个合作项目中，我们的目标是扩展非水电解质中模型单晶表面的电化学反应的研究。 电化学是当前许多能源应用的基础，并在新储能技术的发展中发挥着至关重要的作用。科学认识与技术创新和发展之间的强大协同作用将促进电化学能源技术所涉所有领域的进步。现代电化学表面科学的进展为实现这些目标提供了强有力的前景，并且是该应用的核心。事实上，复杂的反应界面的详细原位表征是电化学表面科学工具可以应对技术发展挑战的关键领域。在锂氧电池的情况下尤其如此。对于氧还原和析氧反应的氧阴极界面的更基本的理解对于该领域的显著进步是至关重要的。电化学过程发生在凝聚态环境中的异质界面处，因此比气-固界面更难检查。由于界面的掩埋性质，大多数标准的表面科学技术都无法使用强吸附电子探针来获得表面灵敏度。对界面的研究仅限于采用穿透辐射的技术，如X射线和中子散射和光谱学，或成像技术，其中探针被带到非常接近固体表面。这些相对较新的技术的发展提供了主要的方法驱动力的新的调查固/液界面。同步辐射技术的进步已经证明了这一点，第三代光源目前正在世界各地运行。这一提议旨在加强利物浦大学和阿贡国家实验室的科学家在研究这种复杂界面方面的合作。合作将包括分享设备、材料和专门知识，以及培训博士生使用最先进的实验设备。它还将涉及同步辐射技术的使用和发展，用于探测固体电极和非水电解质之间界面处的原子结构。

Discovering the fundamental principles that govern electrochemical reactivity is the key to the design of new materials for a range of scientific applications. Such information can only be obtained from model systems with well-defined elemental reaction sites using state-of-the-art instrumental probes. In this collaborative project we aim to extend the study of electrochemical reactions on model single crystal surfaces in non-aqueous electrolytes. Electrochemistry underpins many current energy applications and plays a crucial role in the development of new energy storage technologies. Advances in all the fields involved in electrochemically based energy technologies will be facilitated by strong synergies between scientific understanding and technological innovation and development. Advances in modern electrochemical surface science offer strong perspectives towards achieving these aims and are central to this application. Indeed detailed in situ characterisation of complex, reactive interfaces is a key area where the tools of electrochemical surface science can meet the challenges of developing technologies. This is particularly true in the case of the lithium-oxygen battery. A greater fundamental understanding of the oxygen cathode interface with respect to the oxygen reduction and oxygen evolution reactions is critical for significant advancement in this area. Electrochemical processes occur at heterogeneous interfaces within a condensed matter environment and are thus more difficult to examine than gas-solid interfaces. Due to the buried nature of the interface, it is inaccessible to most standard surface science techniques that employ strongly adsorbed electron probes to gain surface sensitivity. Study of the interface is restricted to techniques that employ penetrating radiation, such as x-ray and neutron scattering and optical spectroscopy, or imaging techniques, where the probe is brought in close proximity to the solid surface. Development of these relatively new techniques is providing the main methodological driving force for new investigations of the solid/liquid interface. This has been paralleled by the advancements made in synchrotron radiation, where a third generation of light sources is currently operational around the world. This proposal aims to strengthen the collaboration between scientists at the University of Liverpool and Argonne National Laboratory in the study of this complex interface. The collaboration will involve the sharing of equipment, materials and expertise and the training of PhD students in the use of state-of-the-art experimental equipment. It will also involve the use and development of synchrotron radiation techniques for probing the atomic structure at the interface between a solid electrode and a non-aqueous electrolyte.