Publication date: 17th July 2025
Electrocatalysis plays a central role in the synthesis of valuable chemicals, in fuel cells and water electrolysis. Electrocatalysts enhance reaction rates by lowering the overpotentials of electrode processes. A deep understanding of reaction mechanisms, including the identification of active sites, intermediates, and elementary steps is essential for the rational design of efficient and durable electrocatalytic materials.
To gain such insights and evaluate electrocatalytic activity, a combination of techniques is employed, including electrochemical methods, in situ spectroscopies, and ab initio computational modeling.
In this talk, we will focus on the application of polarization modulation infrared reflection absorption spectroscopy (PM-IRRAS) for various electrocatalytic reactions and the progress we made in studying highly dispersed carbon-supported and unsupported nanoparticles (NPs). PM-IRRAS has emerged as the most sensitive infrared technique for in situ and surface studies [1,2]. PM-IRRAS uses modulated polarization (alternating between p- and s-polarized light) to enhance sensitivity and distinguish surface-specific signals from the bulk. This modulation allows the technique to suppress isotropic background signals, such as those from gases or liquids, and isolate vibrational modes at the surface [1,3]. Furthermore, PM-IRRAS can operate under realistic environmental conditions, such as in liquids or in the presence of gases, making it ideal for studying dynamic processes like adsorption, catalysis, and electrochemical reactions.
PM-IRRAS has established itself as a gold standard for surface-sensitive infrared spectroscopy, enabling researchers to understand molecular-level details of dynamic processes at interfaces. In this presentation, we will demonstrate in situ PM-IRRAS studies for the development of carbon supported and unsupported NPs for ethanol, glycerol, and ammonia electrooxidation, as well as CO2 electroreduction [4,5].
The authors thank the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada (NSERC) Discovery Grant (RGPIN05494).
nanoGe is a prestigious brand of successful science conferences that are developed along the year in different areas of the world since 2009. Our worldwide conferences cover cutting-edge materials topics like perovskite solar cells, photovoltaics, optoelectronics, solar fuel conversion, surface science, catalysis and two-dimensional materials, among many others.
Previously nanoGe Spring Meeting (NSM) and nanoGe Fall Meeting (NFM), MATSUS is a multiple symposia conference focused on a broad set of topics of advanced materials preparation, their fundamental properties, and their applications, in fields such as renewable energy, photovoltaics, lighting, semiconductor quantum dots, 2-D materials synthesis, charge carriers dynamics, microscopy and spectroscopy semiconductors fundamentals, etc.
International Conference on Hybrid and Organic Photovoltaics
International Conference on Hybrid and Organic Photovoltaics (HOPV) is celebrated yearly in May. The main topics are the development, function and modeling of materials and devices for hybrid and organic solar cells. The field is now dominated by perovskite solar cells but also other hybrid technologies, as organic solar cells, quantum dot solar cells, and dye-sensitized solar cells and their integration into devices for photoelectrochemical solar fuel production.
Asia-Pacific International Conference on Perovskite, Organic Photovoltaics and Optoelectronics
The main topics of the Asia-Pacific International Conference on Perovskite, Organic Photovoltaics and Optoelectronics (IPEROP) are discussed every year in Asia-Pacific for gathering the recent advances in the fields of material preparation, modeling and fabrication of perovskite and hybrid and organic materials. Photovoltaic devices are analyzed from fundamental physics and materials properties to a broad set of applications. The conference also covers the developments of perovskite optoelectronics, including light-emitting diodes, lasers, optical devices, nanophotonics, nonlinear optical properties, colloidal nanostructures, photophysics and light-matter coupling.
The International Conference on Perovskite Thin Film Photovoltaics Perovskite Photonics and Optoelectronics (NIPHO) is the best place to hear the latest developments in perovskite solar cells as well as on recent advances in the fields of perovskite light-emitting diodes, lasers, optical devices, nanophotonics, nonlinear optical properties, colloidal nanostructures, photophysics and light-matter coupling.