Electrochemical Real-Time Mass Spectrometry: a Novel Tool for Time-Resolved Characterization of the Products of Electrochemical Reactions
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Electrochemical real-time mass spectrometry: A novel tool for time-resolved characterization of the products of electrochemical reactions Elektrochemische Realzeit-Massenspektrometrie: Eine neuartige Methode zur zeitaufgelösten Charakterisierung der Produkte elektrochemischer Reaktionen Der Technischen Fakultät der Friedrich-Alexander-Universität Erlangen-Nürnberg zur Erlangung des Doktorgrades Dr.-Ingenieur vorgelegt von Peyman Khanipour Mehrin aus Shiraz, Iran Als Dissertation genehmigt von der Technischen Fakultät der Friedrich-Alexander-Universität Erlangen-Nürnberg Tag der mündlichen Prüfung: 17.11.2020 Vorsitzender des Promotionsorgans: Prof. Dr.-Ing. habil. Andreas Paul Fröba Gutachter: Prof. Dr. Karl J.J. Mayrhofer Prof. Dr. Frank-Michael Matysik I Acknowledgements This study is done in the electrosynthesis team of the electrocatalysis unit at Helmholtz- Institut Erlangen-Nürnberg (HI ERN) with the financial support of Forschungszentrum Jülich. I would like to express my deep gratitude to Prof. Dr. Karl J. J. Mayrhofer for accepting me as a Ph.D. student and also for all his encouragement, supports, and freedoms during my study. I’m grateful to Prof. Dr. Frank-Michael Matysik for kindly accepting to act as a second reviewer and also for the time he has invested in reading this thesis. This piece of work is enabled by collaboration with scientists from different expertise. I would like to express my appreciation to Dr. Sandra Haschke from FAU for providing shape-controlled high surface area platinum electrodes which I used for performing oxidation of primary alcohols and also the characterization of the provided material SEM, EDX, and XRD. Mr. Mario Löffler from HI ERN for obtaining the XPS data and his remarkable knowledge with the interpretation of the spectra on copper-based electrodes for the CO 2 electroreduction reaction. Mr. Fabian Waidhas from FAU for the execution of the in situ infrared spectroscopy for the IPA oxidation reaction. Dr. Florian D. Speck from HI-ERN for performing the dissolution studies of platinum and platinum-ruthenium nanoparticles during IPA oxidation with ICP-MS. Mr. Iosif Mangoufis-Giasin from HI ERN for carrying out the experiment with the rotating disk electrode during IPA oxidation. I would like to appreciate my very motivated master student, Mr. Felix Haase who has supported me at the beginning with technical developments of SFC-EC-RTMS and performing the electrochemical measurements. I would like to extend my thanks to Dr. Jan- Philipp Grote who has trained me during my first weeks in Max-Planck-Institut für Eisenforschung GmbH, with his technical and scientific expertise. My thanks go to Dr. Andreas Bösmann from Friedrich-Alexander-Universität Erlangen-Nürnberg (FAU) for the introduction of the DART mass spectrometer and his help at the beginning phase. I’m very grateful to all my good colleagues and friends, especially, Mr. Mario Löffler, Mr. Andreas M. Reichert, Dr. Alexander Eberle, Dr. Markus D. Pohl, Dr. Susanne Spörler, Mrs. Ricarda Kloth, Mr. Iosif Mangoufis-Giasin, Dr. Dmitry Vasilyev, and Mr. Felix Derleth with the excellent provided working atmosphere and your scientific inputs. I express special appreciation to Mrs. Anja Kraus and Dr. Sabine Lösel for supporting me in the initial phase of entering the country with the organization process. All other individuals, whom I did not mention by name I thank you all. I’m grateful to the HI ERN, particularly to the electrocatalysis unit for their support and the common, cheerful activities. These years here without a doubt were the most rewarding time of my life. My sincere thanks go to my inspiring supervisor Dr. Ioannis Katsounaros, a passionate excellent scientist who was very patient with me throughout these years; for his continuous supports, trust, and for sharing his deep knowledge of electrochemistry with me, and for fruitful discussions we had especially in the evenings. I wish him all the best for his scientific career. Finally, my special thanks go to my parents without their support, impulses, and advice throughout this endeavor I was not standing here. I would like also to express sincere gratitude to my younger brother for his supports of my parents while I was studying abroad. II Abstract Electrochemical synthesis is an attractive approach to exploit the excess of renewable electricity. However, the fluctuations occurring in the provision of renewable energy induces dynamic reaction conditions, which lead to rapid changes in the electrode potential and consequently impose transient events. The study of the catalytic activity and selectivity of the electrochemical reactions under dynamic conditions demands the analysis of the reaction products with techniques that can operate under operando conditions with sufficient time resolution to enable capturing transients in product formation. However, the temporal resolution of the previously developed methods for product analysis is of the order of several minutes, while the existing real-time methods can only determine a limited number of products (e.g. only gaseous and volatile products) or require conditions that make electrochemical experiments difficult (e.g. low electrolyte concentrations). Electrochemical real-time mass spectrometry (EC-RTMS) is a novel and potent methodology was developed during this thesis for the characterization of the complete series of products during complex electrosynthesis reactions or power-to-X conversions with excellent time and potential resolution. This sophisticated analytical technique is a hyphenation of two inlet modified mass spectrometers and it can cover a large range of products by combining two ionization mechanisms. Moreover, it is capable of characterizing liquid products independent of their vapor pressure with a very high tolerance to the presence of salts. Here, EC-RTMS is coupled to a modified scanning flow cell (SFC) where the sampling of the products happens at the electrode-electrolyte interface. The potential of the methodology is demonstrated for the characterization of products during different reactions. Electroreduction of CO 2 on copper is the most representative example of a complex reaction where the power of the technique for the determination of a dozen different gaseous and liquid products in the presence of excessive amounts of salt is demonstrated. An enhanced formation of several C 2+ products over C 1 products with lower onset potential for anodized copper in comparison to pristine copper is demonstrated with potential step or sweep experiments. It is hypothesized that the effect of anodization is related to the structural changes caused by surface oxidation followed by reduction. The role of acetaldehyde as the intermediate of the reaction is remarkable. The capability of the EC- RTMS for the characterization of products of electrooxidation of methanol, ethanol, and 1- propanol on the surface of platinum during the potentiodynamic experiment is demonstrated. The mechanism of the ionization in liquid analysis when the reactant is ionizable and the extent of contribution of liquid products in the gas analysis are discussed in detail and interpretation of the mass spectra is provided. A fundamental study combining EC-RTMS and in situ vibrational spectroscopy reveals that the conversion of isopropanol (IPA) to acetone (ACE) is selective in the operational potential range of the direct alcohol fuel cell and only traces of CO 2 are formed at high potentials. However, the accumulation of adsorbed ACE on the electrode surface leads to a gradual electrode poisoning. Moreover, product analysis in real time reveals that alloying platinum with inactive ruthenium reduces the overpotential for the oxidation of IPA to ACE and improves the tolerance towards the poisoning. However, the corrosion investigation in real time, shows that stability of ruthenium is significantly lower compared to platinum which is detrimental for the long-lasting efficiency of the IPA fuel cell. III Zusammenfassung Elektrochemische Synthesereaktionen sind ein interessanter Ansatz, um den Überschuss an erneuerbarer Energie auszunutzen. Die Schwankungen in der Zurverfügungstellung von erneuerbarer Energie bewirken jedoch dynamische Reaktionsbedingungen. Diese führen zu schnell veränderlichen Elektrodenpotentialen und in Folge dessen zu Übergangseffekten. Die Untersuchung der katalytischen Aktivität und Selektivität elektrochemischer Reaktionen unter dynamischen Bedingungen erfordert die Analyse von Reaktionsprodukten mit Methoden, die während dem Betrieb mit ausreichender Zeitauflösung funktionieren, um Übergänge in Produktentstehungsraten aufzunehmen. Die Zeitauflösung von bisher entwickelten Methoden ist jedoch in der Größenordnung von mehreren Minuten und bestehende Realzeitmethoden sind auf bestimmte Produkte (z.B. lediglich Gase und volatile Produkte) beschränkt, oder erfordern Bedingungen, die elektrochemische Experimente erschweren (z.B. niedrige Elektrolytkonzentrationen). Die elektrochemische Realzeitmassenspektrometrie (electrochemical real-time mass spectrometry, EC-RTMS) ist eine neue und vielseitige Methode, die im Rahmen dieser Arbeit entwickelt wurde, um die komplette Serie von Reaktionsprodukten während komplexer Elektrosynthesereaktionen, oder Power-to-X Umwandlungen mit herausragender Zeit- und Potentialauflösung charakterisieren zu können. Diese hochentwickelte Methode besteht aus der Kopplung von zwei Massenspektrometern, deren Einlasssysteme modifiziert wurden und erlaubt es, einen weiten Bereich an Produkten durch