Atomic-scale Structural Studies of the Electrochemical Interface

固体/液体界面在各种物理现象中发挥着基本作用，例如在催化、晶体生长和许多生物反应中，这些生物反应支配着人体的建造和大脑的功能。因此，解开固体/液体界面的原子结构仍然是当今表面科学面临的主要挑战之一，因为只有通过了解模型系统中的物理过程，我们才能外推到更复杂的环境。由于界面的埋藏性质，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使用穿透辐射的技术，如X射线和中子散射和光学光谱学，或成像技术，其中探测器被带到离固体表面很近的地方。这些相对较新的技术的发展为固/液界面的新研究提供了主要的方法动力。这与同步辐射的进步是平行的，同步辐射的第三代光源目前在世界各地运行。这项提议旨在加强利物浦大学阿贡国家实验室和欧洲同步辐射设备的科学家在研究这一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，并培训博士生使用最先进的实验设备。它还将涉及使用和开发同步辐射技术，以探测固-液界面的原子结构。

The solid/liquid interface plays a fundamental role in a diverse range of physical phenomena, for example in catalysis, crystal growth and in many biological reactions that govern the building of the human body and the functioning of the brain. Unravelling the atomic structure at the solid/liquid interface remains, therefore, one of the major challenges facing surface science today for it is only by understanding the physical processes in model systems that we can extrapolate to more complex environments. 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, Argonne National Laboratory and the European Synchrotron Radiation Facility 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 solid-liquid interface.