Andrea Auer

Universität Regensburg | UR · Institute of Experimental and Applied Physics

A very important parameter for the electrocatalytic performance of a material is its potential of zero free charge (pzfc). For Cu(111) at pH 13 it was identified at −0.73 V SHE in the apparent double layer region. It shifts by (88±4) mV to more positive potentials per decreasing pH unit. ¹ At the pzfc, Cu(111) starts to restructure. At higher poten...

Tailoring electrocatalyst materials to the specific requirements of a certain reaction and to optimize activity or enhance selectivity is a key tactic for the development of low-temperature fuel and electrolyzer cells for clean energy production. Here, we demonstrate the modification of Cu(111) electrodes with different sub-monolayer coverages of f...

The hydrogen evolution reaction (HER) has been crucial for the development of fundamental knowledge on electrocatalysis and electrochemistry, in general. In alkaline media, many key questions concerning pH-dependent structure–activity relations and the underlying activity descriptors remain unclear. While the presence of Ni(OH)2 deposited on Pt(111...

Copper (Cu) is a unique electrocatalyst, which is able to efficiently oxidize CO at very low overpotentials and reduce CO2 to valuable fuels with reasonable Faradaic efficiencies. Yet, knowledge of its electrochemical properties at the solid/liquid interface is still scarce. Here, we present the first two-stranded correlation of the potential of ze...

Elektrokatalysatoren für die Brennstoffzellentechnologie bestehen häufig aus seltenen, edlen Metallen wie Platin, die teuer und schwer verfügbar sind. Nun ist es gelungen nachzuweisen, dass leicht erhältliches Kupfer Kohlenstoffmonoxid, ein wichtiges Reaktionsintermediat, durch kontinuierliche, dynamische Umstrukturierung seiner Oberfläche effizien...

A Correction to this paper has been published: https://doi.org/10.1038/s41929-020-00565-y.

The development of low-temperature fuel cells for clean energy production is an appealing alternative to fossil-fuel technologies. CO is a key intermediate in the electro-oxidation of energy carrying fuels and, due to its strong interaction with state-of-the-art Pt electrodes, it is known to act as a poison. Here we demonstrate the ability of Earth...

In this work, we have investigated the influence of alkali metal cations on the electrical double layer (EDL) properties for various metal electrodes. Using electrochemical impedance spectroscopy, we demonstrate that those cations significantly affect the EDL capacitance in the case of single crystalline Cu(111), Cu(100), Au(111), Pt(111), stepped...

Excellent chemical inertness, good conductivity and high overpotentials for water electrolysis make carbon fibres (CFs) an ideal electrode material for electrochemical applications. A customized design of three-dimensional (3D) carbon electrodes can be achieved by tailored fibre placement of carbon tows with textile production techniques like embro...

A combined synthesis strategy involving a carbothermal reduction and gelation approach with glycine as gelating agent was used to obtain Zr-based (oxy)carbide materials with defined and controlled composition. A comparatively low temperature approach (1500 °C) allows exploration of the ZrC-ZrO2 phase diagram and reproducibly leads to zirconium (oxy...

Self‐organized, anodically grown titanium dioxide (TiO2) nanotubes have been readily studied as anode material in various ion batteries. The simple way of nanostructuring via anodization of a Ti metal substrate and the fact that either their nanotubular morphology or bulk structure can be readily adjusted by changing the anodization and/or annealin...

The use of an activated carbon based quasi-reference electrode for in situ electrochemical scanning tunneling microscopy was found to allow investigations of electrode/electrolyte interfaces under realistic electrochemical reaction conditions. The implementation of purely inert porous carbon electrode materials, both as reference and counter electr...

X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy and electrochemical impedance spectroscopy are used to investigate the electrochemical lithiation/ delithiation behavior of self-organized amorphous titanium dioxide (TiO2) and anatase TiO2-x nanotubes. The bulk lithiation properties are governed by the different phase transitions in amorphous and anatase TiO2. Whil...

X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy and electrochemical impedance spectroscopy are used to investigate the electrochemical lithiation/delithiation behaviour of self-organized amorphous TiO2 and anatase TiO2-x nanotubes. With proceeding bulk lithiation of the active material, surface films form on both nanotube arrays. Carbonates start forming with the...

Self-organized TiO2 nanotubes (NTs) with a preferential orientation along the [001] direction are anodically grown by controlling the water content in the fluoride containing electrolyte. The intrinsic kinetic and thermodynamic properties of the Li intercalation process in the preferentially oriented (PO) TiO2 NTs and in a randomly oriented (RO) Ti...

Hybrid Microbial Fuel Cell: The cover art depicts positive lithium ions that flow towards the silicon nanoparticles, where these nanoparticles expand during the lithiation process. Silicon has attracted great attention as a promising anode material for lithium-ion batteries due to its exceptionally high theoretical specific capacity. Despite these...

Silicon (Si) is considered one of the most promising electrode materials for next generation high energy density lithium-ion batteries, demonstrating an exceptionally high specific capacity with an order of magnitude beyond that of conventional graphite. The poor capacity retention, caused by mechanical fracturing of Si due to extreme volumetric an...

A miniaturised CF-38 mountable sputter source for oxide and metal thin film preparation with enhanced high-vacuum and ultra-high-vacuum compatibility is described. The all home-built sputtering deposition device allows a high flexibility also in oxidic sputter materials, suitable deposition rates for preparation of films in the nm- and the sub-mono...