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The oxygen exchange activity of mixed conducting oxide surfaces has been widely investigated, but a detailed understanding of the corresponding reaction mechanisms and the rate-limiting steps is largely still missing. Combined in situ investigation of electrochemically polarized model electrode surfaces under realistic temperature and pressure conditions by near-ambient pressure (NAP) XPS and impedance spectroscopy enables very surface-sensitive chemical analysis and may detect species that are involved in the rate-limiting step. In the present study, acceptor-doped perovskite-type La0.6Sr0.4CoO3-δ (LSC), La0.6Sr0.4FeO3-δ (LSF), and SrTi0.7Fe0.3O3-δ (STF) thin film model electrodes were investigated under well-defined electrochemical polarization as cathodes in oxidizing (O2) and as anodes in reducing (H2/H2O) atmospheres. In oxidizing atmosphere all materials exhibit additional surface species of strontium and oxygen. The polaron-type electronic conduction mechanism of LSF and STF and the metal-like mechanism of LSC are reflected by distinct differences in the valence band spectra. Switching between oxidizing and reducing atmosphere as well as electrochemical polarization cause reversible shifts in the measured binding energy. This can be correlated to a Fermi level shift due to variations in the chemical potential of oxygen. Changes of oxidation states were detected on Fe, which appears as FeIII in oxidizing atmosphere and as mixed FeII/III in H2/H2O. Cathodic polarization in reducing atmosphere leads to the reversible formation of a catalytically active Fe0 phase.

In order to simulate solid-oxide fuel cell (SOFC)-related coking mechanisms of Ni, methane-induced surface carbide and carbon growth was studied under close-to-real conditions by synchrotron-based near-ambient-pressure (NAP) X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) in the temperature region between 250 and 600 °C. Two complementary polycrystalline Ni samples were used, namely, Ni foam—serving as a model structure for bulk Ni in cermet materials such as Ni/YSZ—and Ni foil. The growth mechanism of graphene/graphite species was found to be closely related to that previously described for ethylene-induced graphene growth on Ni(111). After a sufficiently long “incubation” period of the Ni foam in methane at 0.2 mbar and temperatures around 400 °C, cooling down to ∼250 °C, and keeping the sample at this temperature for 50–60 min, initial formation of a near-surface carbide phase was observed, which exhibited the same spectroscopic fingerprint as the C2H4 induced Ni2C phase on Ni(111). Only in the presence of this carbidic species, subsequent graphene/graphite nucleation and growth was observed. Vice versa, the absence of this species excluded further graphene/graphite formation. At temperatures above 400 °C, decomposition/bulk dissolution of the graphene/graphite phase was observed on the rather “open” surface of the Ni foam. In contrast, Ni foil showed—under otherwise identical conditions—predominant formation of unreactive amorphous carbon, which can only be removed at ≥500 °C by oxidative clean-off. Moreover, the complete suppression of carbide and subsequent graphene/graphite formation by Cu-alloying of the Ni foam and by addition of water to the methane atmosphere was verified.

Any substantial move of energy sources from fossil fuels to renewable resources requires large scale storage of excess energy, for example via power to fuel processes. In this respect electrochemical reduction of CO2 may become very important, since it offers a method of sustainable CO production, which is a crucial prerequisite for synthesis of sustainable fuels. Carbon dioxide reduction in solid oxide electrolysis cells (SOECs) is particularly promising owing to the high operating temperature, which leads to both improved thermodynamics and fast kinetics. Additionally, compared to purely chemical CO formation on oxide catalysts, SOECs have the outstanding advantage that the catalytically active oxygen vacancies are continuously formed at the counter electrode, move to the working electrode where they reactivate the oxide surface without the need of a preceding chemical (e.g. by H2) or thermal reduction step. In the present work, the surface chemistry of (La,Sr)FeO3-δ and (La,Sr)CrO3-δ based perovskite-type electrodes was studied during electrochemical CO2 reduction by means of near ambient pressure X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (NAP-XPS) at SOEC operating temperatures. These measurements revealed the formation of a carbonate intermediate, which develops on the oxide surface only upon cathodic polarization (i.e. under sufficiently reducing conditions). The amount of these adsorbates increases with increasing oxygen vacancy concentration of the electrode material, thus suggesting vacant oxygen lattice sites as the predominant adsorption sites for carbon dioxide. The correlation of carbonate coverage and cathodic polarization indicates that an additional electron transfer is required to form the carbonate radical and thus to activate CO2 on the oxide surface. The results also suggest that acceptor doped oxides with high electron concentration and high oxygen vacancy concentration may be particularly suited for CO2 reduction. In contrast to water splitting, the CO2 electrolysis reaction was not significantly affected by metallic particles, which were exsolved from the perovskite electrodes upon cathodic polarization. Carbon formation on the electrode surface was only observed under very strong cathodic conditions and the carbon could be easily removed by retracting the applied voltage without damaging the electrode, which is particularly promising from an application point of view.

Highly controlled Fe-catalyzed growth of monolayer hexagonal boron nitride (h-BN) films is demonstrated by the dissolution of nitrogen into the catalyst bulk via NH3 exposure prior to the actual growth step. This “pre-filling” of the catalyst bulk reservoir allows us to control and limit the uptake of B and N species during borazine exposure and thereby to control the incubation time and h-BN growth kinetics while also limiting the contribution of uncontrolled precipitation-driven h-BN growth during cooling. Using in situ X-ray diffraction and in situ X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy combined with systematic growth calibrations, we develop an understanding and framework for engineering the catalyst bulk reservoir to optimize the growth process, which is also relevant to other 2D materials and their heterostructures.

We report on the demonstration of ferromagnetic spin injectors for spintronics which are protected against oxidation through passivation by a single layer of graphene. The graphene monolayer is directly grown by catalytic chemical vapor deposition on pre-patterned nickel electrodes. X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy reveals that even with its monoatomic thickness, monolayer graphene still efficiently protects spin sources against oxidation in ambient air. The resulting single layer passivated electrodes are integrated into spin valves and demonstrated to act as spin polarizers. Strikingly, the atom-thick graphene layer is shown to be sufficient to induce a characteristic spin filtering effect evidenced through the sign reversal of the measured magnetoresistance.

Using a combination of complementary in situ X ray photoelectron spectroscopy and X ray diffraction, we study the fundamental mechanisms underlying the chemical vapor deposition CVD of hexagonal boron nitride h BN on polycrystalline Cu. The nucleation and growth of h BN layers is found to occur isothermally, i.e., at constant elevated temperature, on the Cu surface during exposure to borazine. A Cu lattice expansion during borazine exposure and B precipitation from Cu upon cooling highlight that B is incorporated into the Cu bulk, i.e., that growth is not just surface mediated. On this basis we suggest that B is taken up in the Cu catalyst while N is not by relative amounts , indicating element specific feeding mechanisms including the bulk of the catalyst. We further show that oxygen intercalation readily occurs under as grown h BN during ambient air exposure, as is common in further processing, and that this negatively affects the stability of h BN on the catalyst. For extended air exposure Cu oxidation is observed, and upon re heating in vacuum an oxygen mediated disintegration of the h BN film via volatile boron oxides occurs. Importantly, this disintegration is catalyst mediated, i.e., occurs at the catalyst h BN interface and depends on the level of oxygen fed to this interface. In turn, however, deliberate feeding of oxygen during h BN deposition can positively affect control over film morphology. We discuss the implications of these observations in the context of corrosion protection and relate them to challenges in process integration and heterostructure CVD

Selective oxidations are key steps of industrial oil and gas processing for the synthesis of high-value chemicals. Mixed metal oxides based on redox active V or Mo are frequently used for oxidative C–H bond activation. However, multiple processes require precious metals or suffer from low product selectivity demanding an ongoing search for cost-effective alternatives. Recently, the nanostructured carbon was reported to catalyze the metal-free selective alkane activation by oxidative dehydrogenation (ODH).[1,2] Electron-rich surface carbonyls coordinate this reaction and mimic the active oxygen species in metal oxide catalysts.[3-5] Here we show that the graphitic carbon, beyond ODH, has the potential to selectively mediate the insertion of an oxygen atom into an organic molecule, i.e., acrolein. Multi-step atom rearrangements considerably exceed the mechanistic complexity of hydrogen abstraction and were so far believed to be the exclusive domain of metal (oxide) catalysis. In the carbon catalyzed process, the nucleophilic oxygen atoms terminating the graphite (0001) surface abstract the formyl hydrogen and the activated aldehyde gets oxidized by epoxide-type mobile oxygen, thus the sp2 carbon acts as a bifunctional catalyst. Substantial similarities between the metal oxide- and carbon-catalyzed reactions could be identified. Our results shed light on a rarely known facet of applications of nanostructured carbon materials being decorated with diverse oxygen functionalities to coordinate complex catalytic processes. We could successfully transfer the results obtained from the graphite model to carbon nanotubes (CNTs) providing a higher surface area, defect density, and intrinsic activity, to substantially increase the reactivity per catalyst volume. Indeed, low dimensional nanostructured carbon is a highly flexible and robust material which can be modified in a multiple manner to optimize its properties with respect to the intended application. The exploration of fundamental similarities and differences in catalysis by metal (oxides) remains a significant challenge