sWP2.3: Correlations

• Experimental nano- and surface science measurements (AMF, spectroscopy, amperometry) combined with theoretical modeling to provide a critical test of the hypothesis, namely that activity at one hot spot can influence that at another via a number of feedback mechanisms.
• Realization of a new nanofabricated device to detect such correlations directly.
• Identification of the various feedback mechanisms for HER and ORR reactivity.

Electrochemical conversion reactions do not take place uniformly over the electrode surface, but are centered at so-called hot spots. Apart from this spatially non-uniform activity, the activity at each hot spot also fluctuates in time. We postulate that several feedback mechanisms exist that can affect activity over a wide range of length scales, as well as time scales, leading to correlations in activity of different hot spots. Understanding such feedback mechanisms may prove essential for rational design of nanoscale electrodes.