In-situ SAXS of water condensation and evaporation in nanopores

Many of technologies and natural processes involve liquids in nanometer-sized pores. Energy storage and conversion technologies provide numerous examples, such as the permeation of electrolytes in supercapacitor and battery electrodes, water condensation in fuel cell cathodes, liquid-phase heterogeneous catalysis, etc. In all these examples, small pores are generally needed to increase the surface areas and improve the materials performances. This, however, increases the importance of surface energies, disjoining forces and thermal fluctuations, and deeply modifies the physics of confined liquids. The aim of the proposal is to use in-situ SAXS to investigate the nanostructure of water confined in nanoporous materials, in relation with their metastable or equilibrium natures.