Electrocatalysis by single crystal surfaces.

From single crystal surfaces to single atoms: investigating active sites in electrocatalysis.

Electrocatalytic processes will undoubtedly be at the heart of energising future transportation and technology with the added importance of being able to create the necessary fuels required to do so in an environmentally friendly and cost effective manner. For this to be successful two almost mutually exclusive surface properties need to be reconciled, namely producing highly active/reactive su...

Single-molecule electrocatalysis by single-walled carbon nanotubes.

We report a single-molecule fluorescence study of electrocatalysis by single-walled carbon nanotubes (SWNTs) at single-reaction resolution. Applying super-resolution optical imaging, we find that the electrocatalysis occurs at discrete, nanometer-dimension sites on SWNTs. Single-molecule kinetic analysis leads to an electrocatalytic mechanism, allowing quantification of the reactivity and heter...

Nickelocene adsorption on single-crystal surfaces

Electron scattering at single crystal Cu surfaces

Epitaxial copper layers, 6.6 nm to 1.2 μm thick, were grown on MgO(001) by ultra-high vacuum magnetron sputter deposition at 100 °C. The surface morphology, as determined by in-situ scanning tunneling microscopy, exhibits a regular mound structure. The mounds grow in width w and height h as a function of layer thickness t from h=3 nm and w=20 nm for t=20 nm to h=5 nm and w=200 nm for t=1.2 μm. ...

Engineering surface atomic structure of single-crystal cobalt (II) oxide nanorods for superior electrocatalysis

Engineering the surface structure at the atomic level can be used to precisely and effectively manipulate the reactivity and durability of catalysts. Here we report tuning of the atomic structure of one-dimensional single-crystal cobalt (II) oxide (CoO) nanorods by creating oxygen vacancies on pyramidal nanofacets. These CoO nanorods exhibit superior catalytic activity and durability towards ox...