New instrument at BESSY II: The OÆSE endstation in EMIL
The new end station was set up in the EMIL laboratory. © R. Garcia-Diez /HZB
Scheme of the endstation, including the sample environment, the analysis chamber and the operando beamline section. © HZB
A new instrument is now available at BESSY II for investigating catalyst materials, battery electrodes and other energy devices under operating conditions: the Operando Absorption and Emission Spectroscopy on EMIL (OÆSE) endstation in the Energy Materials In-situ Laboratory Berlin (EMIL). A team led by Raul Garcia-Diez and Marcus Bär showcases the instrument’s capabilities via a proof-of-concept study on electrodeposited copper.
Solar cells, catalysts, and batteries are composed of so-called energy materials, i.e., materials that either convert or store energy. Their functionality is based on complex chemical or physical processes. In order to improve their functionality, it is crucially required to understand those processes, ideally while they are taking place, i.e. by in situ and operando studies. A new experimental station enabling corresponding experiments is now available at the Energy Materials In-situ Laboratory Berlin (EMIL) located at the synchrotron facility BESSY II.
The “Operando Absorption and Emission Spectroscopy on EMIL” (OÆSE) provides detailed insights into the electronic and chemical structures of materials and interfaces and their changes during critical (electro)chemical processes via X-ray absorption (XAS) and emission (XES) spectroscopy .
At the heart of the OÆSE endstation is a modular and flexible in situ/operando sample environment, specially tailored to tackle the specific research questions required for each energy material, which design ensures easy adaptation to different experiments.
To demonstrate the capabilities of the OÆSE endstation, the team led by Raul Garcia-Diez and Marcus Bär studied in situ the electrochemical deposition of copper from an aqueous CuSO4 electrolyte using combined soft and hard X-ray absorption spectroscopy exploiting the two-color beamline of EMIL. The case study shows that the new endstation offers valuable insights into dynamic electrochemical processes and thus enables a better understanding of complex electrochemical systems.
- Electrocatalysis with dual functionality – an overviewHybrid electrocatalysts can produce green hydrogen, for example, and valuable organic compounds simultaneously. This promises economically viable applications. However, the complex catalytic reactions involved in producing organic compounds are not yet fully understood. Modern X-ray methods at synchrotron sources such as BESSY II, enable catalyst materials and the reactions occurring on their surfaces to be analysed in real time, in situ and under real operating conditions. This provides insights that can be used for targeted optimisation. A team has now published an overview of the current state of knowledge in Nature Reviews Chemistry.
- Successful master's degree in IR thermography on solar facadesWe are delighted to congratulate our student employee Luca Raschke on successfully completing her Master's degree in Renewable Energies at the Hochschule für Technik und Wirtschaft Berlin - and with distinction!
- BESSY II: Phosphorus chains – a 1D material with 1D electronic propertiesFor the first time, a team at BESSY II has succeeded in demonstrating the one-dimensional electronic properties in phosphorus. The samples consisted of short chains of phosphorus atoms that self-organise at specific angles on a silver substrate. Through sophisticated analysis, the team was able to disentangle the contributions of these differently aligned chains. This revealed that the electronic properties of each chain are indeed one-dimensional. Calculations predict an exciting phase transition to be expected as soon as these chains are more closely packed. While material consisting of individual chains with longer distances is semiconducting, a very dense chain structure would be metallic.