Application: Product: IRis-F1

Dual-frequency comb spectroscopy studies of ionic strength effects in time-resolved ATR-SEIRAS

Erick Lins, Ian R. Andvaag, Stuart Read, Scott M. Rosendahl, Ian J. Burgess

Journal of Electroanalytical Chemistry; 2022

View abstract | Access journal publication | Access preprint publication

Attenuated total reflection surface enhanced infrared absorption spectroscopy (ATR-SEIRAS) studies of the potential induced desorption/adsorption of a model organic monolayer is described using a paradigm-challenging dual frequency comb spectrometer. Experimentally measured ATR-SEIRAS transients reveal that both the rates of adsorption and desorption of 4-dimethylaminopyridine (DMAP) are dependent on the ionic strength of the supporting electrolyte. The characteristic time scales of monolayer desorption are found to be directly proportional to the spectroelectrochemical cell time constant indicating that the rate of film dissolution is much faster than the RC charging of the interface. The slow response of the interfacial charging process relative to the kinetics of the film re-organization/desorption processes means that the transient is parametrically linked to the potential dependent DMAP adsorption isotherm. The transients also reveal that the line shape of the molecular IR absorption feature exhibits a temporal dependence. A Lorentzian band is seen at early stages of the desorption transient but increasingly exhibit an anomalous bimodal line-shape at longer times. The development of the anomalous line shape is more pronounced at equivalent times in higher ionic strength electrolytes. Such an effect has been modelled using effective medium theory and is explained by the fact that the fraction of organic layer in the SEIRAS active film influences the observed apparent absorption features. The observation of a coverage dependence on SEIRAS line shapes adds new complexity to previous reports that linked anomalous absorption features exclusively to the metal film morphology and metal volume fraction.


Application: , Product: IRis-F1

Microsecond resolved infrared spectroelectrochemistry using dual frequency comb IR lasers

Lins, E.; Read, S.; Unni, B.; Rosendahl, S. M.; Burgess, I. J.

Analytical Chemistry; 2020

View abstract | Access journal publication | Access preprint publication

A dual infrared frequency comb spectrometer with heterodyne detection has been used to perform time-resolved electrochemical attenuated total reflectance surface-enhanced infrared absorption spectroscopy (ATR-SEIRAS). The measurement of the potential dependent desorption of a monolayer of a pyridine derivative (4-dimethylaminopyridine, DMAP) with time resolution as high as 4 μs was achieved without the use of step-scan interferometry. An analysis of the detection limit of the method as a function of both time resolution and measurement coadditions is provided and compared to step-scan experiments of an equivalent system. Dual frequency comb spectroscopy is shown to be highly amenable to time-resolved ATR-SEIRAS. Microsecond resolved spectra can be obtained with high spectral resolution and fractional monolayer detection limits in a total experimental duration that is 2 orders of magnitude less than the equivalent step-scan experiment.