In Situ Characterization of Ultrathin Films by Scanning Electrochemical Impedance Microscopy
By Estrada-Vargas, Arturo; Bandarenka, Aliaksandr; Kuznetsov, Volodymyr; Schuhmann, Wolfgang
Published in Analytical Chemistry
2016
Abstract
Control over the properties of ultrathin films plays a crucial role in many fields of science and technology. Although nondestructive optical and electrical methods have multiple advantages for local surface characterization, their applicability is very limited if the surface is in contact with an electrolyte solution. Local electrochemical methods, e.g., scanning electrochemical microscopy (SECM), cannot be used as a robust alternative yet because their methodological aspects are not sufficiently developed with respect to these systems. The recently proposed scanning electrochemical impedance microscopy (SEIM) can efficiently elucidate many key properties of the solid/liquid interface such as charge transfer resistance or interfacial capacitance. However, many fundamental aspects related to SEIM application still remain unclear. In this work, a methodology for the interpretation of SEIM data of