The Role of Well-Defined Surfaces in Electrocatalysis

The progress in electrocatalysis over the last two decades has been achieved primarily through the fundamental understanding of electrochemical processes that are taking place at well-defined surfaces.  Fine tuning of the surface properties has led towards unprecedented improvements in functionality of practical materials for energy conversion and storage applications.  This presentation is an overview of the most relevant studies related to well-defined surfaces in ultra-high vacuum (UHV) and at solid-liquid interfaces that have revealed the structure-function relationships in electrocatalysis and established principles for the design of advanced electrocatalysts.  The following topics will be discussed:  1) well-defined surfaces in UHV;  2) atomic/molecular insight into electrified interfaces;  3) modeling of electrochemical processes;  4) identification of the active sites under reaction conditions;  5) insight into chemical bonds between the surface atoms, and molecular species in the electrolyte;  6) design and synthesis of practical catalyst with desired size, shape and composition profile; and 7) fine tuning of the activity and durability in electrocatalysis.