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Catalysts are important components in chemical processes because they lower the activation energy and thus determine the rate, efficiency and selectivity of a chemical reaction. This property plays an important role in many of today’s processes, including the electrochemical splitting of water. Due to the continuous development of catalyst materials, they are becoming more complex, which makes a reliable evaluation of physicochemical properties challenging even for modern analytical measurement techniques and industrial manufacturing.
We present a fast, vacuum-free and non-destructive analytical approach using multi-sample spectroscopic ellipsometry to determine relevant material parameters such as film thickness, porosity and composition of mesoporous IrOx–TiOy films. Mesoporous IrOx–TiOy films were deposited on Si wafers by sol–gel synthesis, varying the composition of the mixed oxide films between 0 and 100 wt%Ir. The ellipsometric modeling is based on an anisotropic Bruggeman effective medium approximation (a-BEMA) to determine the film thickness and volume fraction of the material and pores. The volume fraction of the material was again modeled using a Bruggeman EMA to determine the chemical composition of the materials. The ellipsometric fitting results were compared with complementary methods, such as scanning electron microscopy (SEM), electron probe microanalysis (EPMA) as well as environmental ellipsometric porosimetry (EEP).
Ellipsometry-based approach for the characterization of mesoporous thin films for H2 technologies
(2021)
Porous thin layer materials are gaining importance in different fields of technology and pose a challenge to the accurate determination of materials properties important for their function. In this work, we demonstrate a hybrid measurement technique using ellipsometry together with other independent methods for validation. Ellipsometry provides information about the porosity of different mesoporous films (PtRuNP/OMC = 45%; IrOx = 46%) as well as about the pore size (pore radius of ca. 5 nm for PtRuNP/OMC). In addition, the electronic structure of a material, such as intraband transitions of a mesoporous IrOx film, can be identified, which can be used to better understand the mechanisms of chemical processes. In addition, we show that ellipsometry can be used as a scalable imaging and visualization method for quality assurance in production. These require accurate and traceable measurements, with reference materials playing an important role that include porosity and other related properties. We show that our novel analytical methods are useful for improving analytical work in this entire field.
With the increasing production of renewable energy and concomitant depletion of fossil resources, the demand for efficient water splitting electrocatalysts continues to grow. Iridium (Ir) and iridium oxides (IrOₓ) are currently the most promising candidates for an efficient oxygen evolution reaction (OER) in acidic medium, which remains the bottleneck in water electrolysis. Yet, the extremely high costs for Ir hamper a widespread production of hydrogen (H₂) on an industrial scale. Herein, the authors report a concept for the synthesis of electrode coatings with template-controlled mesoporosity surface-modified with highly active Ir species. The improved utilization of noble metal species relies on the synthesis of soft-templated metal oxide supports and a subsequent shape-conformal deposition of Ir species via atomic layer deposition (ALD) at two different reaction temperatures. The study reveals that a minimum Ir content in the mesoporous titania-based support is mandatory to provide a sufficient electrical bulk conductivity. After ALD, a significantly enhanced OER activity results in dependency of the ALD cycle number and temperature. The most active developed electrocatalyst film achieves an outstanding mass-specific activity of 2622 mA mg(Ir)⁻¹ at 1.60 V(RHE) in a rotating-disc electrode (RDE) setup at 25 °C using 0.5 m H₂SO₄ as a supporting electrolyte.
Thin mesoporous metal oxide films are versatile and attractive candidates for several energy applications like photovoltaics, electrolysis or batteries. Due to their high surface area and ordered pore structure, mesoporous metal oxides demonstrate higher activities. The performance of the porous films is affected by properties like size and shape of the mesopores as well as the crystallinity of the framework. The exact determination and metrological evaluation of the complex morphology of thin mesoporous films requires a new analytical approach employing to combined data of different analytical methods. In this contribution we present a novel evaluation procedure for spectroscopic ellipsometry (SE) to analyse thin mesoporous iridium oxide films.
Mesoporous iridium oxide films were prepared via dip-coating of a solution containing a triblock-copolymer as structure directing agent and an iridium precursor in ethanol. Deposited films were calcined in air at temperatures between 300 and 600 °C. Their morphology was studied with SEM and an electron probe microanalysis (EPMA) and correlated via SE with a Bruggeman effective medium approximation (BEMA). The developed SE model described the film thickness as well as the porosity.
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The contribution will assess in detail the novel approach to analyse the morphology and porosity of thin metal oxide films with spectroscopic ellipsometry. Moreover, the advantages of the new developed approach will be discussed as well as combination of datasets from multiple measurements to development new methods for innovative energy technologies.
Thin mesoporous metal oxide films are versatile and attractive candidates for several energy applications like photovoltaics, electrolysis or batteries. Due to their high surface area and ordered pore structure, mesoporous metal oxides demonstrate higher activities. The performance of the porous films is affected by properties like size and shape of the mesopores as well as the crystallinity of the framework. The exact determination and metrological evaluation of the complex morphology of thin mesoporous films requires a new analytical approach employing to combined data of different analytical methods. In this contribution we present a novel evaluation procedure for spectroscopic ellipsometry (SE) to analyse thin mesoporous iridium oxide films. Mesoporous iridium oxide films were prepared via dip-coating of a solution containing a triblock-copolymer as structure directing agent and an Iridium precursor in ethanol. Deposited films were calcined in air at temperatures between 300 and 600 °C. Their morphology was studied with SEM and an electron probe microanalysis (EPMA) and correlated via SE with a Bruggeman effective medium approximation (BEMA). The developed SE model described the film thickness as well as the porosity.
... The contribution will assess in detail the novel approach to analyse the morphology and porosity of thin metal oxide films with spectroscopic ellipsometry. Moreover, the advantages of the new developed approach will be discussed as well as combination of datasets from multiple measurements to development new methods for innovative energy technologies.
Thin mesoporous metal oxide films are versatile and attractive candidates for several energy applications like photovoltaics, electrolysis or batteries. Due to their high surface area and ordered pore structure, mesoporous metal oxides demonstrate higher activities. The performance of the porous films is affected by properties like size and shape of the mesopores as well as the crystallinity of the framework. The exact determination and metrological evaluation of the complex morphology of thin mesoporous films requires a new analytical approach employing to combined data of different analytical methods. In this contribution we present a novel evaluation procedure for spectroscopic ellipsometry (SE) to analyse thin mesoporous iridium oxide films.
Mesoporous iridium oxide films were prepared via dip-coating of a solution containing a triblock-copolymer as structure directing agent and an iridium precursor in ethanol. Deposited films were calcined in air at temperatures between 300 and 600 °C. Their morphology was studied with SEM and an electron probe microanalysis (EPMA)and correlated via SE with a Bruggeman effective medium approximation (BEMA). The developed SE model described the film thickness as well as the porosity.
Figure 1a shows a top-view SEM image of mesoporous IrO2 film calcined at 375 °C. The image reveals that the films exhibit a well-ordered mesopore structure with an average pore diameter of 16 nm and a periodic distance between pore centres of 24 nm (FFT inset). Figure 1b is a parity plot of film thicknesses determined by cross-section SEM versus SE of IrO2 film samples prepared at different calcination temperatures. The porosity from the SE model is in good agreement to the porosity values obtained by EPMA.
The contribution will assess in detail the novel approach to analyse the morphology and porosity of thin metal oxide films with spectroscopic ellipsometry. Moreover, the advantages of the new developed approach will be discussed as well as combination of datasets from multiple measurements to development new methods for innovative energy technologies.
In the face of rising energy demand and the impending climate change the development of a sustainable, fossil-free fuel and chemical production is of global importance. One possible goal is the development of electrochemical conversion processes using catalysts. Porous materials play an important role in such energy applications. The key to the development of improved catalysts is a better understanding of the relations between their performance, stability and physico-chemical properties. However, the complex morphology of such catalysts constitutes a challenge even for modern analytical techniques.
Spectroscopic ellipsometry (SE) is a versatile method for studying material properties by using appropriate models (e.g. film thickness, optical and electronic properties). The fact that the material properties cannot be taken directly from the measured spectra, the developed models have to be validated. In a first step, the model for the ellipsometric fit studies of a calcination series of mesoporous iridium oxide films (300 – 600 °C) was investigated and validated with respect to their material properties. Moreover, the electronic structures of the catalysts reveal a direct correlation with electrochemical activities. The development of an environmental cell offers the possibility of investigations under real conditions. This will allow changes in the optical and electronic properties during the electrocatalytic oxygen evolution reaction.
Hydrogen features a very high specific energy density and is therefore a promising candidate for clean fuel from renewable resources. Water electrolysis can convert electrical energy into storable and transportable hydrogen gas. Under acidic conditions, platinum is the most active and stable monometallic catalyst for the hydrogen evolution reaction (HER). Yet, platinum is rare and needs to be used efficiently. Here, we report a synthesis concept for colloidal bimetallic platinum–ruthenium and rhodium–ruthenium nanoparticles (PtRuNP, RhRuNP) and their incorporation into ordered mesoporous carbon (OMC) films. The films exhibit high surface area, good electrical conductivity and well-dispersed nanoparticles inside the mesopores. The nanoparticles retain their size, crystallinity and composition during carbonization. In the hydrogen evolution reaction (HER), PtRuNP/OMC catalyst films show up to five times higher activity per Pt than Pt/C/Nafion® and PtRu/C/Nafion® reference catalysts.
Porous materials play an important role in several fields of technology, especially for energy applications like photovoltaics, electrolysis or batteries. The activity of porous films is affected by properties like porosity, film thickness, chemical composition of the material as well as the crystallinity of the framework. The complex morphology of such porous films constitutes a challenge even for modern analytical techniques and requires new approaches employing the combination/complementation of data of different analytical methods. In this contribution we characterize thin mesoporous iridium-titanium mixed oxide film properties by Electron Probe Microanalysis (EPMA) with energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDS) at an SEM.
Porous materials play an important role in several fields of technology, especially for energy applications like photovoltaics, electrolysis or batteries. The activity of porous films is affected by properties like porosity, film thickness, chemical composition of the material as well as the crystallinity of the framework. The complex morphology of such porous films constitutes a challenge even for modern analytical techniques and requires new approaches employing the combination/complementation of data of different analytical methods. In this contribution we characterize thin mesoporous iridium-titanium mixed oxide film properties by Electron Probe Microanalysis (EPMA) with energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDS) at an SEM.