Empa, Dübendorf, Switzerland

METAL OXIDES IN ELECTROCHEMICAL ENERGY STORAGE AND CONVERSION

WG4 members: Debajeet K. Bora, Florent Boudoire, Artur Braun, Yelin Hu, George Tsekouras, Ulrich Vogt

 homepage: www.empa.ch

We synthesize, process and analyze electrodes and solid electrolytes for energy storage and conversion devices such as fuel cells, batteries, electrolyzers, photo-electrochemical cells, and gas sensors. Our work extends from basic science to component development and device assembly. We study these materials and components under electrochemical device operation conditions operando and in situ at synchrotron and neutron sources and correlate transport properties with electronic structure.

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Metal oxide surfaces interact easily with their ambient environment and develop a charge carrier depletion layer. This has influence on the electronic structure of the metal oxide surfaces – and ultimately on the functionality of the components made from the materials, as can be measured using electron spectroscopy and electro-analytical methods.