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Nanoimpacts at Active and Partially Active Electrodes: Insights and Limitations
Author(s) -
Roehrich Brian,
Sepunaru Lior
Publication year - 2020
Publication title -
angewandte chemie
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
eISSN - 1521-3757
pISSN - 0044-8249
DOI - 10.1002/ange.202007148
Subject(s) - electrocatalyst , electrochemistry , catalysis , electrode , active site , nanomaterials , particle (ecology) , redox , materials science , nanotechnology , intercalation (chemistry) , reversible hydrogen electrode , chemistry , chemical engineering , inorganic chemistry , working electrode , organic chemistry , oceanography , geology , engineering
While the electrochemical nanoimpact technique has recently emerged as a method of studying single entities, it is limited by requirement of a catalytically active particle impacting an inert electrode. We show that an active particle‐active electrode can provide mechanistic insight into electrochemical reactions. When an individual Pt electrocatalyst adsorbs to the surface of a partially active electrode, further reduction of electrode‐produced species can proceed on the nanocatalyst. Current transients obtained during hydrogen evolution allow simultaneous measurement of the Pt catalyst over different length scales, size dependency suggests H atom intercalation as a catalytic deactivation mechanism. Although results show that outer‐sphere redox probes are unproductive for particle characterization, the breadth of inner‐sphere electrochemical reactions makes this a promising method for understanding the properties of catalytic nanomaterials, one at a time.