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Shedding light on electrodeposition dynamics tracked in situ via soft X-ray coherent diffraction imaging

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Abstract

The in situ physicochemical analysis of nanostructured functional materials is crucial for advances in their design and production. X-ray coherent diffraction imaging (CDI) methods have recently demonstrated impressive potential for characterizing such materials with a high spatial resolution and elemental sensitivity; however, moving from the current ex situ static regime to the in situ dynamic one remains a challenge. By combining soft X-ray ptychography and single-shot keyhole CDI, we performed the first in situ spatiotemporal study on an electrodeposition process in a sealed wet environment, employed for the fabrication of oxygen-reduction catalysts, which are key components for alkaline fuel cells and metal-air batteries. The results provide the first experimental demonstration of theoretically predicted Turing–Hopf electrochemical pattern formation resulting from morphochemical coupling, adding a new dimension for the in-depth in situ characterization of electrodeposition processes in space and time.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Elettra Sincrotrone Trieste ScpA, SS14-km163.5 in Area Science Park, 34149, Trieste, Italy

    George Kourousias, Alessandra Gianoncelli & Maya Kiskinova

  2. Dipartimento di Ingegneria dell’Innovazione, Università del Salento, via Monteroni, 73100, Lecce, Italy

    Benedetto Bozzini

  3. Australian Synchrotron, Clayton, 3168, Australia

    Michael W. M. Jones

  4. ARC Centre of Excellence for Advanced Molecular Imaging, La Trobe Institute of Molecular Science, La Trobe University, Bundoora, 3089, Australia

    Michael W. M. Jones

  5. Department of Chemistry and Physics, La Trobe Institute for Molecular Science, La Trobe University, Bundoora, 3086, Australia

    Mark Junker & Grant van Riessen

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  1. George Kourousias
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  2. Benedetto Bozzini
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  3. Alessandra Gianoncelli
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  4. Michael W. M. Jones
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  6. Grant van Riessen
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  7. Maya Kiskinova
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Correspondence to George Kourousias.

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Kourousias, G., Bozzini, B., Gianoncelli, A. et al. Shedding light on electrodeposition dynamics tracked in situ via soft X-ray coherent diffraction imaging. Nano Res. 9, 2046–2056 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12274-016-1095-9

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12274-016-1095-9

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