Electrochemical flowcell for in-situ investigations by soft x-ray absorption and emission spectroscopy

A new liquid flow-cell designed for electronic structure investigations at the liquid-solid interface by soft X-ray absorption and emission spectroscopy is presented. A thin membrane serves simultaneously as a substrate for the working electrode and solid state samples as well as for separating the liquid from the surrounding vacuum conditions. In combination with counter and reference electrodes this approach allows in-situ studies of electrochemical deposition processes and catalytic reactions at the liquid-solid interface in combination with potentiostatic measurements. As model system in-situ monitoring of the deposition process of Co metal from a 10 mM CoCl2 aqueous solution by X-ray absorption and emission spectroscopy is presented.