Electrocatalysis on the nm scale

The past two decades have seen a renewed and rapidly growing interest in the fields of electrochemistry and electrocatalysis. This is on the one hand stimulated by applications in energy conversion and energy storage, where highly efficient electrochemical/electrocatalytic processes are considered to be an indispensable part of modern energy concepts based on the use of renewable energy sources. However, it is also pushed by the rapid development of modern in situ spectroscopy and microscopy tools, such as in situ vibrational spectroscopy, in situ X-ray spectroscopy/diffraction, and in situ scanning probe microscopy, just to name a few, as well as the enormous progress that has been made in the theoretical description of processes occurring at the electrochemical solid–liquid interface. The experimental methods provide, at least in principle, the opportunity to gain insight into the processes occurring at the solid–electrolyte interface on an unprecedented, atomic/ molecular level. The theory has not only developed to a stage where a reliable description of complex surface structures and surface processes (at the solid–gas interface) is possible based on first-principles electronic structure theory (in particular, (periodic) density functional theory (DFT)), but it is also increasingly developing new approaches for a more realistic modeling of the electrochemical solid–liquid interface from first principles. Although there is still a long way to go, it is not unrealistic to assume that an atomic/molecular scale understanding of the elementary processes occurring at the electrochemical interface (similar to that developed for the solid–gas interface) is within reach, given the rapid progress in both theory and experiment. Furthermore, the employment of modern strategies from nanotechnology for the systematic fabrication of optimized, nanostructured electrodes and electrocatalysts sets the stage and provides the means for a systematic, knowledge-based optimization of electrochemical and electrocatalytic processes. This is unprecedented in this discipline and will hopefully allow us to satisfy the expectations from the technology side.