The future of chemistry is 'exciting'. With the increase in electrical energy from renewable resources, it will be possible in the future to use electrical current to drive many chemical processes. This will help to use sustainable methods to manufacture products or fuels, replacing current fossil fuel-based processes. However, exactly how these electrocatalysts work is not fully understood. Now, this can all change with a new method developed by researchers at Friedrich-Alexander-Universität Erlangen-Nürnberg (FAU) and the Helmholtz Institute for Renewable Energies in Erlangen-Nürnberg (HIERN). Reactions driven by electricity almost always use so-called electrocatalysts, which are typically highly complex materials composed of a large number of chemical components. The role of the electrocatalyst is to ensure that the reaction takes place while keeping any losses to a minimum, thus wasting as little renewable energy as possible, which is complex for production. The method could be used to produce important energy carriers such as hydrogen directly from water and to convert climate gases such as carbon dioxide into valuable basic chemicals. In most cases, the precise chemical processes in electrocatalysts are not well understood. Improving the understanding of this electro-driven chemistry is crucial, on the one hand to create targeted catalysts for new processes and, on the other hand, reports the journal Nature Materials from FAU, HI-ERN and their international partner groups. The researchers have now developed a new method that will allow for more detailed studies of electrocatalytic reactions in the future. Together with Professor Karl Mayrhofer of HI-ERN, the working group led by Dr. Jörg Libuda, Professor of Physical Chemistry at FAU, demonstrated that it is possible to construct a complex electrocatalyst with atomic precision and use it to study the precise mechanism of the electrocatalytic reaction. The catalysts are assembled under so-called ultrahigh vacuum conditions and are completely free of all contaminants that often affect results. This breakthrough will allow scientists to use the same strategy to study a large number of other catalysts, improving our understanding of the future of "electrochemistry."

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