High-Speed Electrochemical Imaging

The design, development, and application of high-speed scanning electrochemical probe microscopy is reported. The approach allows the acquisition of a series of high-resolution images (typically 1000 pixels μm–2) at rates approaching 4 seconds per frame, while collecting up to 8000 image pixels per second, about 1000 times faster than typical imaging speeds used up to now. The focus is on scanning electrochemical cell microscopy (SECCM), but the principles and practicalities are applicable to many electrochemical imaging methods. The versatility of the high-speed scan concept is demonstrated at a variety of substrates, including imaging the electroactivity of a patterned self-assembled monolayer on gold, visualization of chemical reactions occurring at single wall carbon nanotubes, and probing nanoscale electrocatalysts for water splitting. These studies provide movies of spatial variations of electrochemical fluxes as a function of potential and a platform for the further development of high speed scanning with other electrochemical imaging techniques.