Soft X-ray spectroscopies in liquids and at solid-liquid interface at BACH beamline at Elettra

TL;DR

This paper describes the development and application of specialized soft X-ray spectroscopy cells at the BACH beamline for studying liquids and solid-liquid interfaces, enabling in situ and operando analysis of electrochemical and photocatalytic processes.

Contribution

It introduces new static and flow cells for soft X-ray spectroscopy in liquids, facilitating in situ and operando studies of interfaces and reactions.

Findings

Successful XAS measurements in ambient and electrochemical conditions

Development of cells enabling in situ electrochemical analysis

Application to study chemical reactions at interfaces

Abstract

The Beamline for Advanced diCHroism (BACH) of the Istituto Officina dei Materiali-Consiglio Nazionale delle Ricerche (IOM-CNR), operating at Elettra synchrotron in Trieste (Italy), works in the extreme ultra violet (EUV)-soft X-ray photon energy range with selectable light polarization, high energy resolution, brilliance and time resolution. The beamline offers a multi-technique approach for the investigation of the electronic, chemical, structural, magnetic, and dynamical properties of materials. Recently one of the three end-stations has been dedicated to experiments based on electron transfer processes at the solid/liquid interfaces and during photocatalytic or electrochemical reactions. Suitable cells to perform soft X-ray spectroscopy in the presence of liquids and reagent gases at ambient pressure were developed. Here we present two types of static cells working in transmission or in fluorescence yield, and an electrochemical flow cell which allows to carry out cyclic voltammetry in situ, electrodeposition on a working electrode (WE) and to study chemical reactions in-operando conditions. Examples of X-ray absorption spectroscopy (XAS) measurements performed in ambient conditions and during electrochemical experiments in liquid are presented.