Publication date: 22nd July 2026
The active state of an electrocatalyst is not a static entity but rather the result of continuous structural, chemical, and interfacial evolution driven by the applied potential, electrolyte environment, and reaction intermediates. Capturing these dynamic transformations is essential for establishing reliable structure–activity–selectivity relationships and for the rational design of next-generation catalysts for sustainable chemical and energy conversion.
In this lecture, I will discuss how the combination of operando synchrotron-based X-ray techniques (XPS, XAS, XPEEM, XRD), vibrational spectroscopy (Raman) and in situ scanning probe and electron microscopies (EC-AFM, EC-TEM, NAP-LEEM) provides unprecedented insight into the dynamic behavior of electrocatalysts under working conditions. In particular, this will enable simultaneously tracking the morphological evolution, local electronic structure, oxidation-state, surface chemistry, and reaction intermediates, allowing transient catalytic states to be directly linked to reaction pathways.
Examples spanning CO₂ electrocatalytic reduction (CO2RR), nitrate reduction (NO3RR), and the oxygen evolution reaction (OER) demonstrate that catalyst restructuring, oxidation-state fluctuations, adsorbate evolution, and electrolyte reorganization occur over multiple length and time scales and are intimately coupled to catalytic performance. Rather than representing degradation phenomena, these transformations frequently generate the true active catalytic state and determine activity, selectivity, and stability. The systems that will be discussed include Cu-based materials for CO2RR and NO3RR (single crystals, thin films and nanoparticles), metal–nitrogen–carbon single atom catalysts (Cu-, Ni-, Co-N-C) for CO2RR and transition-metal oxides (Ni-, Co-, and CoFe-oxides and hydroxides) for OER.
The emerging picture is that electrocatalysts should be viewed as adaptive systems whose active states arise from the intimate coupling between the catalyst’s structure and the evolving solid-liquid interface. Thus, a catalyst performance should optimized through controlled interfacial dynamics rather than static structural descriptors.
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.