In Situ Electrocatalytic Infrared Spectroscopy for Dynamic Reactions

The modern society is confronted with severe problems of energy consumption, climatic variation, and environmental pollution. A series of electrocatalysis reactions, including oxygen evolution reaction (OER), hydrogen evolution reaction (HER), CO2 reduction reaction (CO2 RR), N-2 or nitrate reduction reaction (NRR or NOxRR), and methanol or ethanol oxidation reaction (MOR or EOR), have become promising ways to solve these serious issues and realize sustainable development. However, the limited understanding of the dynamic process of electrocatalysis still hinders the rational design of these electrocatalysts. Combining infrared spectroscopy with electrocatalysis, in situ electrochemical infrared spectroscopy (in situ EIRS) is a mighty tool to acquire deep insight of dynamic electrocatalytic reaction process at molecule level. Moreover, the surface sensitive in situ EIRS could acquire information about the adsorbates and the key intermediate, making it broad prospects in the study of electrocatalytic dynamic process. In this short review, we summarize recent progress of in situ EIRS with the focus of probing dynamic reactions. In particular, we first briefly introduce the fundamental and the methodological development of in situ EIRS. Then, the recent advances of in situ EIRS applications in electrocatalytic reaction is demonstrated, including OER, HER, CO2RR, NRR, and MOR. Finally, challenges and perspectives of future research in related fields are discussed.

Automated summary

Electrocatalysis reactions are promising ways to solve severe energy and environmental problems, but the limited understanding of the dynamic process hinders rational design of electrocatalysts. In situ electrochemical infrared spectroscopy (in situ EIRS) is a powerful tool to gain deep insights into dynamic electrocatalytic reactions at the molecular level, showing broad prospects in the study of electrocatalytic dynamic processes.