Interfacial Reactions in Electrochemical Energy Systems: In-Situ Studies Using Synchrotron X-ray Techniques

For electrochemical systems such as batteries and fuel cells, the gas/solid and liquid/solid interfaces are critical parts where many important reactions take place. It is critical to understand the interfacial changes for the better design of efficient energy systems. In the past years we have used various in-situ and operando synchrotron-based X-ray techniques including scattering, spectroscopy and imaging to investigate the atomic and electronic structure, chemistry and compositions of numerous electrochemical interfaces in fuel cells, electrolyzers, lithium- sodium- and magnesium-batteries. In my talk, I will go through couple of case studies including electrocatalyst restructuring in oxygen evolution reaction for hydrogen production and interfacial morphological and structural changes during battery charging-discharging processes. We will also highlight the importance of using model thin film systems to obtain insights on interfacial reaction in electrochemical reactions.