Operando Topography and Mechanical Property Mapping of CO₂Reduction Gas-Diffusion Electrodes Operating at High Current Densities

Operando Topography and Mechanical Property Mapping of CO₂Reduction Gas-Diffusion Electrodes Operating at High Current Densities

Nesbitt, N.T. (TU Delft ChemE/Materials for Energy Conversion and Storage; TU Delft Emerging Materials; National Renewable Energy Laboratory)
Smith, W.A. (TU Delft ChemE/Materials for Energy Conversion and Storage; TU Delft Emerging Materials; National Renewable Energy Laboratory; University of Colorado)

2021

Electrochemical atomic force microscopy (EC-AFM) enables measurement of electrode topography and mechanical properties during electrochemical reactions. However, for aqueous-based reactions that make gas products, such as CO2 reduction and water splitting into CO/H2, current densities below 1 mA cm-2 have been necessary to prevent formation of bubbles at the electrode; such bubbles can stick to the AFM probe and prevent further AFM imaging. Here, we demonstrate a novel cell design with a gas-diffusion electrode (GDE) to exhaust the gas products, thereby enabling high current density EC-AFM measurements at 1, 10, and 100 mA cm-2 that are not disturbed by bubble formation at the electrode surface. These experiments revealed a stable morphological structure of Cu catalysts deposited on GDEs during high current density operation. Systematic spatially resolved maps of deformation and adhesion showed no signs of a gas-liquid interface between catalyst particles of the GDE.

http://resolver.tudelft.nl/uuid:99daea5e-ed2f-4a56-8ffc-d0f5b06fa42c

https://doi.org/10.1149/1945-7111/abf183

0013-4651

Electrochemical Society. Journal, 168 (4)

Institutional Repository

journal article

© 2021 N.T. Nesbitt, W.A. Smith