NSF-DFG Echem
In the framework of an international collaboration between the Pennsylvania State University (Penn State) and the KIT funded by the National Science Foundation (NSF) in the USA and the German Science foundation (DFG) in Germany, the NSF-DFG Echem project focuses on developing cutting-edge soft x-ray spectroscopy to describe the electronic (and chemical) structure of FexNi100-xO(H)y electrocatalyst materials under operando conditions. These materials are at the forefront of alkaline electrocatalysis, including the oxygen evolution half reaction (OER) of water electrolysis. For further development of these catalysts an in-depth understanding of the d-state electron structure of Fe (and Ni) in these oxides is essential. To do this, this project combines the materials expertise at Penn State with the x-ray spectroscopy expertise at the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology to experimentally probe the Fe electronic structure under alkaline electrooxidation conditions. Materials synthesized at Penn State will be studied using operando soft x-ray spectroscopy at the X-SPEC beamline [1] at the KIT light source.
From [2], reprinted with permission from the American Institute of Physics (AIP).
Contact information: Dr. Lothar Weinhardt
Literature
[1] Weinhardt, L., R. Steininger, D. Kreikemeyer-Lorenzo, S. Mangold, D. Hauschild, D. Batchelor, T. Spangenberg, and C. Heske, J. Synchrotron Rad. 28, 609 (2021), https://doi.org/10.1107/S1600577520016318.
[2] Benkert, A., M. Blum, F. Meyer, R. G. Wilks, W. Yang, M. Bär, F. Reinert, C. Heske, and L. Weinhardt, Rev. Sci. Instr. 85,015119 (2014), https://doi.org/10.1063/1.4862059.
Project partners
Prof. Lauren Greenlee, Prof. Ezra Clark, Chemical Engineering, Pennsylvania State University
Dr. Lothar Weinhardt, Institute for Photon Science and Synchrotron Radiation, Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT)