Aleix G. Güell

Structural Correlations in Heterogeneous Electron Transfer at Monolayer and Multilayer Graphene Electrodes

As a new form of carbon, graphene is attracting intense interest as an electrode material with widespread applications. In the present study, the heterogeneous electron transfer (ET) activity of graphene is investigated using scanning electrochemical cell microscopy (SECCM), which allows electrochemical currents to be mapped at high spatial resolution across a surface for correlation with the corresponding structure and properties of the graphene surface. We establish that the rate of heterogeneous ET at graphene increases systematically with the number of graphene layers, and show that the stacking in multilayers also has a subtle influence on ET kinetics.

Scanning Electrochemical Cell Microscopy: A Versatile Technique for Nanoscale Electrochemistry and Functional Imaging

Scanning electrochemical cell microscopy (SECCM) is a new pipette-based imaging technique purposely designed to allow simultaneous electrochemical, conductance, and topographical visualization of surfaces and interfaces. SECCM uses a tiny meniscus or droplet, at the end of a double-barreled (theta) pipette, for high-resolution functional imaging and nanoscale electrochemical measurements. Here we introduce this technique and provide an overview of its principles, instrumentation, and theory. We discuss the power of SECCM in resolving complex structure-activity problems and provide considerable new information on electrode processes by referring to key example systems, including graphene, graphite, carbon nanotubes, nanoparticles, and conducting diamond. The many longstanding questions that SECCM has been able to answer during its short existence demonstrate its potential to become a major technique in electrochemistry and interfacial science.

Scanning Electrochemical Cell Microscopy: Theory and Experiment for Quantitative High Resolution Spatially-Resolved Voltammetry and Simultaneous Ion-Conductance Measurements

Scanning electrochemical cell microscopy (SECCM) is a high resolution electrochemical scanning probe technique that employs a dual-barrel theta pipet probe containing electrolyte solution and quasi-reference counter electrodes (QRCE) in each barrel. A thin layer of electrolyte protruding from the tip of the pipet ensures that a gentle meniscus contact is made with a substrate surface, which defines the active surface area of an electrochemical cell. The substrate can be an electrical conductor, semiconductor, or insulator. The main focus here is on the general case where the substrate is a working electrode, and both ion-conductance measurements between the QRCEs in the two barrels and voltammetric/amperometric measurements at the substrate can be made simultaneously. In usual practice, a small perpendicular oscillation of the probe with respect to the substrate is employed, so that an alternating conductance current (ac) develops, due to the change in the dimensions of the electrolyte contact (and hence resistance), as well as the direct conductance current (dc). It is shown that the dc current can be predicted for a fixed probe by solving the Nernst-Planck equation and that the ac response can also be derived from this response. Both responses are shown to agree well with experiment. It is found that the pipet geometry plays an important role in controlling the dc conductance current and that this is easily measured by microscopy. A key feature of SECCM is that mass transport to the substrate surface is by diffusion and, for charged analytes, ion migration which can be controlled and varied quantifiably via the bias between the two QRCEs. For a working electrode substrate this means that charged redox-active analytes can be transported to the electrode/solution interface in a well-defined and controllable manner and that relatively fast heterogeneous electron transfer kinetics can be studied. The factors controlling the voltammetric response are determined by both simulation and experiment. Experiments demonstrate the realization of simultaneous quantitative voltammetric and ion conductance measurements and also identify a general rule of thumb that the surface contacted by electrolyte is of the order of the pipet probe dimensions.

Quantitative nanoscale visualization of heterogeneous electron transfer rates in 2D carbon nanotube networks

Carbon nanotubes have attracted considerable interest for electrochemical, electrocatalytic, and sensing applications, yet there remains uncertainty concerning the intrinsic electrochemical (EC) activity. In this study, we use scanning electrochemical cell microscopy (SECCM) to determine local heterogeneous electron transfer (HET) kinetics in a random 2D network of single-walled carbon nanotubes (SWNTs) on an Si/SiO2 substrate. The high spatial resolution of SECCM, which employs a mobile nanoscale EC cell as a probe for imaging, enables us to sample the responses of individual portions of a wide range of SWNTs within this complex arrangement. Using two redox processes, the oxidation of ferrocenylmethyl trimethylammonium and the reduction of ruthenium (III) hexaamine, we have obtained conclusive evidence for the high intrinsic EC activity of the sidewalls of the large majority of SWNTs in networks. Moreover, we show that the ends of SWNTs and the points where two SWNTs cross do not show appreciably different HET kinetics relative to the sidewall. Using finite element method modeling, we deduce standard rate constants for the two redox couples and demonstrate that HET based solely on characteristic defects in the SWNT side wall is highly unlikely. This is further confirmed by the analysis of individual line profiles taken as the SECCM probe scans over an SWNT. More generally, the studies herein demonstrate SECCM to be a powerful and versatile method for activity mapping of complex electrode materials under conditions of high mass transport, where kinetic assignments can be made with confidence.

Nanoscale Electrocatalysis: Visualizing Oxygen Reduction at Pristine, Kinked, and Oxidized Sites on Individual Carbon Nanotubes

There is a prevailing and widely adopted view that carbon nanotubes, which are finding considerable application in energy, healthcare, and electronics applications, are highly (electro)catalytically inert unless modified, doped, or defected. By visualizing the electrochemical reduction of oxygen (hydrogen peroxide generation) at high resolution along pristine (defect-free) regions of individual single-walled carbon nanotubes, we show that there is, in fact, significant activity comparable to that of standard gold electrocatalysts. Moreover, the activity is greatly enhanced at strained (kinked) sites and regions modified by oxidation. Single-walled carbon nanotubes are thus effective electrocatalysts in their own right and not just supports for other materials.

Redox-dependent spatially resolved electrochemistry at graphene and graphite step edges

The electrochemical (EC) behavior of mechanically exfoliated graphene and highly oriented pyrolytic graphite (HOPG) is studied at high spatial resolution in aqueous solutions using Ru(NH3)6(3+/2+) as a redox probe whose standard potential sits close to the intrinsic Fermi level of graphene and graphite. When scanning electrochemical cell microscopy (SECCM) data are coupled with that from complementary techniques (AFM, micro-Raman) applied to the same sample area, different time-dependent EC activity between the basal planes and step edges is revealed. In contrast, other redox couples (ferrocene derivatives) whose potential is further removed from the intrinsic Fermi level of graphene and graphite show uniform and high activity (close to diffusion-control). Macroscopic voltammetric measurements in different environments reveal that the time-dependent behavior after HOPG cleavage, peculiar to Ru(NH3)6(3+/2+), is not associated particularly with any surface contaminants but is reasonably attributed to the spontaneous delamination of the HOPG with time to create partially coupled graphene layers, further supported by conductive AFM measurements. This process has a major impact on the density of states of graphene and graphite edges, particularly at the intrinsic Fermi level to which Ru(NH3)6(3+/2+) is most sensitive. Through the use of an improved voltammetric mode of SECCM, we produce movies of potential-resolved and spatially resolved HOPG activity, revealing how enhanced activity at step edges is a subtle effect for Ru(NH3)6(3+/2+). These latter studies allow us to propose a microscopic model to interpret the EC response of graphene (basal plane and edges) and aged HOPG considering the nontrivial electronic band structure.

Mapping Nanoscale Electrochemistry of Individual Single-Walled Carbon Nanotubes

We introduce a multiprobe platform for the investigation of single-walled carbon nanotubes (SWNTs) that allows the electrochemical response of an individual SWNT to be mapped at high spatial resolution and correlated directly with the intrinsic electronic and structural properties. With this approach, we develop a detailed picture of the factors controlling electrochemistry at SWNTs and propose a definitive model that has major implications for future architectures of SWNT electrode devices.

Nanoscale Electrochemistry of sp2 Carbon Materials: From Graphite and Graphene to Carbon Nanotubes

Carbon materials have a long history of use as electrodes in electrochemistry, from (bio)electroanalysis to applications in energy technologies, such as batteries and fuel cells. With the advent of new forms of nanocarbon, particularly, carbon nanotubes and graphene, carbon electrode materials have taken on even greater significance for electrochemical studies, both in their own right and as components and supports in an array of functional composites. With the increasing prominence of carbon nanomaterials in electrochemistry comes a need to critically evaluate the experimental framework from which a microscopic understanding of electrochemical processes is best developed. This Account advocates the use of emerging electrochemical imaging techniques and confined electrochemical cell formats that have considerable potential to reveal major new perspectives on the intrinsic electrochemical activity of carbon materials, with unprecedented detail and spatial resolution. These techniques allow particular features on a surface to be targeted and models of structure-activity to be developed and tested on a wide range of length scales and time scales. When high resolution electrochemical imaging data are combined with information from other microscopy and spectroscopy techniques applied to the same area of an electrode surface, in a correlative-electrochemical microscopy approach, highly resolved and unambiguous pictures of electrode activity are revealed that provide new views of the electrochemical properties of carbon materials. With a focus on major sp(2) carbon materials, graphite, graphene, and single walled carbon nanotubes (SWNTs), this Account summarizes recent advances that have changed understanding of interfacial electrochemistry at carbon electrodes including: (i) Unequivocal evidence for the high activity of the basal surface of highly oriented pyrolytic graphite (HOPG), which is at least as active as noble metal electrodes (e.g., platinum) for outer-sphere redox processes. (ii) Demonstration of the high activity of basal plane HOPG toward other reactions, with no requirement for catalysis by step edges or defects, as exemplified by studies of proton-coupled electron transfer, redox transformations of adsorbed molecules, surface functionalization via diazonium electrochemistry, and metal electrodeposition. (iii) Rationalization of the complex interplay of different factors that determine electrochemistry at graphene, including the source (mechanical exfoliation from graphite vs chemical vapor deposition), number of graphene layers, edges, electronic structure, redox couple, and electrode history effects. (iv) New methodologies that allow nanoscale electrochemistry of 1D materials (SWNTs) to be related to their electronic characteristics (metallic vs semiconductor SWNTs), size, and quality, with high resolution imaging revealing the high activity of SWNT sidewalls and the importance of defects for some electrocatalytic reactions (e.g., the oxygen reduction reaction). The experimental approaches highlighted for carbon electrodes are generally applicable to other electrode materials and set a new framework and course for the study of electrochemical and interfacial processes.

Spatial and Temporal Control of the Diazonium Modification of sp2 Carbon Surfaces

Interest in the controlled chemical functionalization of sp(2) carbon materials using diazonium compounds has been recently reignited, particularly as a means to generate a band gap in graphene. We demonstrate local diazonium modification of pristine sp(2) carbon surfaces, with high control, at the micrometer scale through the use of scanning electrochemical cell microscopy (SECCM). Electrochemically driven diazonium patterning is investigated at a range of driving forces, coupled with surface analysis using atomic force microscopy (AFM) and Raman spectroscopy. We highlight how the film density, level of sp(2)/sp(3) rehybridization and the extent of multilayer formation can be controlled, paving the way for the use of localized electrochemistry as a route to controlled diazonium modification.

Boron doped diamond ultramicroelectrodes: a generic platform for sensing single nanoparticle electrocatalytic collisions

Boron doped diamond (BDD) disk ultramicroelectrodes have been used to sense single nanoparticle (NP) electrocatalytic collision events. BDD serves as an excellent support electrode due to its electrocatalytic inactivity and low background currents and thus can be used to detect the electroactivity of a wide range of colliding NPs, with high sensitivity. In particular, single NP collisions for hydrazine oxidation at Au and Pt NPs were shown to be markedly different.