Nitrate Electroreduction and Molecular Structures on Electrode Surfaces

University Of Illinois At Urbana-Champaign, Urbana IL

Investigators

Abstract

Professor Andrew A. Gewirth of the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign is supported by the Analytical and Surface Chemistry Program in the Division of Chemistry to examine the structure and reactivity associated with two types of electrode processes. The first involves the catalysis of nitrate reduction on bare and bimetallic electrode surfaces. The second examines the structure of solvents and other molecules on bare and monolayer-modified electrode surfaces. Information on molecules adsorbed on electrode surfaces will be obtained with a battery of spectroscopic, microscopic, and electrochemical techniques in combination with theoretical calculations. Fundamental information resulting from these studies will impact all areas of electrochemistry. Improved understanding of the structure and reactivity of electrode surfaces impacts technological processes as diverse and important as remediation, corrosion, deposition, energy storage, and catalysis. The work serves as a vehicle for interdisciplinary research training. Students from underrepresented groups will be mentored, and hands-on science and chemical demonstrations will be performed in local schools.