Bragg Coherent Diffraction Imaging for In Situ Studies in Electrocatalysis

Authors

Abstract

Electrocatalysis is at the heart of a broad range ofphysicochemical applications that play an important role in thepresent and future of a sustainable economy. Among the myriadof different electrocatalysts used in this field, nanomaterials are ofubiquitous importance. An increased surface area/volume ratiocompared to bulk makes nanoscale catalysts the preferred choiceto perform electrocatalytic reactions. Bragg coherent diffractionimaging (BCDI) was introduced in 2006 and since has beenapplied to obtain 3D images of crystalline nanomaterials. BCDIprovides information about the displacement field, which isdirectly related to strain. Lattice strain in the catalysts impactstheir electronic configuration and, consequently, their bindingenergy with reaction intermediates. Even though there have beensignificant improvements since its birth, the fact that the experiments can only be performed at synchrotron facilities and its relatively low resolution to date (10 nm spatial resolution) have prevented the popularization of this technique. Herein, we will briefly describe the fundamentals of the technique, including the electrocatalysis relevant information that we can extract from it. Subsequently, we review some of the computational experiments that complement the BCDI data for enhanced information extraction and improved understanding of the underlying nanoscale electrocatalytic processes. We next highlight success stories of BCDI applied to different electrochemical systems and in heterogeneous catalysis to show how the technique can contribute to future studies in electrocatalysis. Finally, we outline current challenges in spatiotemporal resolution limits of BCDI and provide our perspectives on recent developments in synchrotron facilities as well as the role of machine learning and artificial intelligence in addressing them.