CAREER: Next-Generation Electrochemical Imaging

This project is jointly funded by the Chemical Measurement and Imaging Program in the Division of Chemistry, and the Established Program to Stimulate Competitive Research (EPSCoR). Martin Edwards of the University of Arkansas will develop the next generation of tools for nanoscale analysis of electrochemical interfaces. Interfacial electrochemical processes are important in a broad range of scientifically and industrially important fields, such as energy storage and conversion, biosensing, and corrosion. Spatial variation in interfacial structure and behavior occurs at the nanoscale. Thus, mapping electrochemical processes on a comparable scale is essential to furthering their understanding and optimization. This project will produce tools that miniaturize and localize measurements that are hitherto possible only on whole electrodes. An annual summer workshop will help develop in-demand skills in multiphysics modelling. Multiphysics modelling creates a computer description of a real-world system incorporating physical and chemical processes. This model allows rapid prototyping, optimization, quantitative interpretation of measurements, hypothesis testing, and more. Workshop participants, ranging from upper-level undergraduate students through faculty, will gain skills that are sought after in both academia and industry. The resources developed for the workshop (step-by-step guides with pedagogical content, recorded lectures, example models) will be publicly available through a web portal. The Edwards lab will develop enhanced electroanalytical tools based upon an electrochemical scanned-probe microscopy platform. The tools will allow control and manipulation of the electrical and chemical environment during measurements. These tools will allow mapping of the current-voltage response of electrochemically active interfaces under a broad range of solution conditions and with ~10-1000 nm spatial resolution. Mapping the heterogeneity of electrochemical interfaces with nanoscale resolution is necessary to understand structure-activity relationships. Varying the chemical environment will assist mechanistic understanding and facilitate new experimental paradigms, with applications in electrocatalyst screening and mechanistic understanding of electrochemical reactions. This project will influence fields including electrocatalysis, energy storage and conversion, sensing, electrosynthesis, corrosion, and electrodeposition. Multiphysics finite element modelling, including the coupled Nerst-Planck, Poisson, and Navier-Stokes equations, will aid experimental design and interpretation of measurements. This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.