We use surface-sensitive spectroscopy techniques, e.g., ambient pressure photoelectron spectroscopy (APXPS) and polarisation modulated infrared reflection absorption spectroscopy (PM-IRRAS), to monitor the changes in the chemical nature of model catalysts and adsorbed species.
We use high pressure atomic force microscopy (HP-AFM) to probe the topographical changes of metals and oxides in the presence of gases up to 1 bar pressure. Furthermore, we develop a method to obtain material-specific information by differentiating different tip-sample interactions in a single AFM measurement, which can eventually be used as a chemical fingerprint.
We plan to extend the capacity of the currently existing techniques to be operable in the presence of 1 bar of gas and in (electrified) liquids. Moreover, we would like our techniques to probe insulating materials such as oxides which are also essential in chemical processes.
