In-situ  SEM showing nucleation and growth of Cu cubes during electrochemical cycling

The video on the left published by researchers at Fritz-Haber Institute of the Max Planck Society shows the control nucleation and growth of Cu cubes during a potential sweep. The shape and size of the cubes’ growth correspond with the number of cycles.  The result demonstrates that the growth of particles such as Cu cubes can be accurately tuned to achieve optimal sizes and shapes as required for a particular application such as catalysis.

The accuracy in the electrosynthesis of nanoparticles directly correlates to the reliability and accuracy of reference electrodes used over multiple (repeatable) cycles and cannot be achieved with a quasi electrochemistry platform with unrealistic/pseudo reference electrodes.

Video Copyright © 2021 American Chemical Society

Reference: Grosse et al. J. Phys. Chem. C 2020, 124, 49, 26908–26915. DOI: 10.1021/acs.jpcc.0c09105