Xianwen MAO1
1National University of Singapore, Singapore, Singapore
Electrochemical interfaces have continued to play critical roles in modern technologies that promise to tackle some of the world’s most pressing challenges associated with climate change, renewable energy and clean water. In this talk, I will describe my research efforts in developing a deeper understanding of electrochemical interfaces for sustainability with insights gained from soft materials design and operando functional imaging. In the first part of my talk, I will discuss how nanostructuring in molecularly engineered ionic liquids governs their electrochemical performance, with a particular focus on the critical role of self-assembled nanostructures at electrified interfaces. In the second part of my talk, I will describe my efforts in developing operando functional imaging tools to understand materials chemistry and properties at the single-entity level (e.g., single particles, single interfaces, single cells, single polymers). I will focus on (photo)electrochemical catalytic properties of emerging materials important for energy and environmental applications. I will discuss in detail single-entity-level insights inaccessible from bulk-level, ensemble-averaged measurements.
References:
Nature Materials 2019, 18, 1350–1357.
Nature Chemistry 2019, 11, 687-694.
Nature Materials 2022, 21, 331–337.