Surface electrochemistry

这项研究是为了了解发生在电极表面的化学反应。对分子水平上发生的事情的了解有助于改进电化学装置，如通过表面反应进行操作的燃料电池。这项研究的一部分包括观察附着在表面上的简单分子，找出它们的确切位置、几何形状和附着的强度。在这项工作中，我们使用单晶电极，其中原子在表面的确切位置是可控和已知的。因此，我们可以提取有关分子如何与表面结合的最大细节。在研究的第二部分，我们研究更复杂的反应，比如乙醇的电化学氧化。乙醇是一种可以从农业资源中生产的燃料，然后用于燃料电池来发电，从而减少我们对石油的依赖，以满足我们未来的能源需求。它比现有的燃料电池燃料（如氢和甲醇）更复杂，因此需要开发新的方法来理解它与表面相互作用的复杂方式。观察表面上有哪些分子只是问题的一部分。分子分裂并产生许多产物，其中一些是可溶的并离开表面。重要的是要识别这些，并找出如何调整表面的条件，以优化所需的产品。我们将开发新的微流体电化学技术来表征复杂的化学反应。在最简单的变化中，分子沿着一个非常薄的通道流动，在那里它们以不同的电压通过电极。第一个电极进行反应，下游的电极充当探测器，捕捉和计数第一个电极产生的分子。由于通道非常薄，捕获效率很高，检测过程非常灵敏。

This research is to understand chemical reactions that take place at electrode surfaces. A knowledge of what is happening at the molecular level enables improvement of electrochemical devices such as fuel cells whose operation occurs via surface reactions. One part of this research involves looking at simple molecules adsorbed (attached) to the surface, finding out exactly where they are located, in what geometry and how strongly they are attached. In this work, we use single-crystal electrodes, in which the exact locations of the atoms in the surface are controlled and known. Therefore we can extract the maximum level of detail about how the molecules are bonded to the surface.     In the second part of the research, we look at more complicated reactions, such as the electrochemical oxidation of ethanol. Ethanol is a fuel that can be produced from agricultural sources and then used in a fuel cell to generate electricity, thereby reducing our reliance on oil for our future energy needs. It is more complicated than the established fuel cell fuels such as hydrogen and methanol, and therefore requires development of new methods to understand the complicated ways in which it interacts with the surface. Looking at which molecules are on the surface is only part of the problem. The molecule splits up and makes many products, some of which are soluble and leave the surface. It is important to identify these and find out how to adjust the conditions of the surface to optimize the desired product.     We will develop new microfluidic electrochemistry techniques to characterize the complex chemistry. In the simplest variation, the molecules are flowed down a very thin channel where they pass electrodes at different voltages. The first electrode carries out the reaction, and the downstream ones act as detectors, capturing and counting the molecules produced at the first electrode. Because the channel is very thin, the capture is very efficient and the detection process is very sensitive.