Live-XAS
Live-monitoring of electrical- and photon-driven catalysis by versatile energy- and time-resolved X-ray absorption spectroscopy (XANES & EXAFS) in actively controlled sample environments - Live-XAS
Live-XAS primarily addresses novel materials for homogeneous and heterogeneous (electro/photo-) catalysis that are operated in a functional solvent environment with active control of important reaction parameters (pH, temperature, metabolite/gas/fuel concentrations). The technologically promising catalysts under reaction conditions are often non-crystalline, which precludes meaningful structural analysis by diffraction methods. For such amorphous (redox-active) electrode films as well as (light-driven) molecular materials, X-ray absorption spectroscopy (XAS) facilitates a wide range of informative experiments, including direct (live) tracking of catalytic processes in time during electro- or photo-chemical operation, thereby providing atomic-level mechanistic information.
X-ray absorption spectroscopy (XAS) in the tender/hard energy regime (2-14 keV) delivers direct and robust information on electronic configuration (XANES addressing, e.g., redox states and adsorbed species) and molecular structure (EXAFS providing, e.g., interatomic distances) and most importantly, property changes during operation of materials in their "native" solvent and reaction environment. This approach is termed "in-situ” or “operando” XAS. We aim at time-resolved operando XAS for atomistic insight by tracking of processes in time ranges from milliseconds (catalytic intermediates, reactions kinetics) to hours (catalyst conditioning, activation, corrosion). Live-XAS aims at versatile and user-friendly experimental technology —now with focus on data quality, spectral resolution, and sample-environment control— for operando XAS investigation of a broad range of reactions. The present project complements and largely extends our instrumentation and experimental developments pursued in the BMBF-funded “In-situ-XAS” (7/2016-6/2019) and “Operando-XAS” (7/2019-6/2022) projects at the KMC-3 beamline of the BESSY synchrotron (Berlin; operated by Helmholtz-Zentrum Berlin, HZB).
Project Profile
Duration: 01.07.2022 - 30.06.2025
Funding:Federal Ministry of Education and Research
Project Partners:
Large-scale facility:
Contact: Prof. Dr.-Ing. Christina Roth, Dr. Bruna Lobo
Related Links
Pageflow of the project at Project Management Jülich (in German)
Project description on the pages of the Federal Ministry of Education and Research