Vega-Paredes Miquel, Scheu Christina, Aymerich-Armengol Raquel
Max-Planck-Institut für Eisenforschung GmbH, Max-Planck-Strasse 1, Düsseldorf 40237, Germany.
ACS Appl Mater Interfaces. 2023 Oct 11;15(40):46895-46901. doi: 10.1021/acsami.3c09188. Epub 2023 Sep 29.
Identical location (scanning) transmission electron microscopy provides valuable insights into the mechanisms of the activity and degradation of nanocatalysts during electrochemical reactions. However, the technique suffers from limitations that hinder its widespread use for nanocatalysts of gas evolving reactions, e.g., the hydrogen evolution reaction (HER). The main issue is the production of bubbles that cause the loss of electric contact in identical location measurements, which is critical for the correct cycling of the nanocatalysts and interpretation of the electron microscopy results. Herein, we systematically evaluate different set-ups, materials, and tools to allow the facile and reliable study of the stability of HER nanocatalysts. The optimized conditions are applied for the study of layered rhenium molybdenum disulfide (ReMoS) nanocatalysts, a relevant alternative to Pt catalysts for the HER. With our approach, we demonstrate that although the morphology of the ReMoS catalyst is maintained during HER, chemical composition changes could be correlated to the electrochemical reaction. This study expands the potential of the IL(S)TEM technique for the construction of structure-property relationships of nanocatalysts of gas evolving reactions.
相同位置（扫描）透射电子显微镜为电化学反应过程中纳米催化剂的活性和降解机制提供了有价值的见解。然而，该技术存在局限性，阻碍了其在析气反应（如析氢反应，HER）纳米催化剂中的广泛应用。主要问题是气泡的产生会导致相同位置测量中电接触的丧失，这对于纳米催化剂的正确循环以及电子显微镜结果的解释至关重要。在此，我们系统地评估了不同的装置、材料和工具，以便能够轻松可靠地研究HER纳米催化剂的稳定性。优化后的条件应用于层状二硫化铼钼（ReMoS）纳米催化剂的研究，这是一种用于HER的替代铂催化剂的相关材料。通过我们的方法，我们证明了尽管ReMoS催化剂在HER过程中保持其形态，但化学成分的变化可能与电化学反应相关。这项研究扩展了原位（扫描）透射电子显微镜技术在构建析气反应纳米催化剂结构-性能关系方面的潜力。
