Pattern-enhanced Resonant Soft X-ray Scattering for Operando monitoring of electrochemical solid-liquid interfaces
- Haoyi Li
- Kas Andrle
- Qi Zhang
- Isvar A. Cordova
- Yao Yang
- Zhengxing Peng
- Feipeng Yang
- Guillaume Freychet
- Scott Dhuey
- Alexander Hexemer
- Brett A. Helms
- Weilun Chao
- Bruno La Fontaine
- Ricardo Ruiz
- Jinghua Guo
- Wanli Yang
- Junko Yano
- Cheng Wang
2026-02-21
Unveiling interfaces at sub-nanometer scales is essential for advancing the understanding of complex chemical transformations. However, characterizing solid-liquid interfaces with high dimensional sensitivity and temporal resolution remains challenging, due to their dynamic nature and inaccessibility by conventional probes. Here we present an approach, Pattern-enhanced Resonant Soft X-ray Scattering, to overcome the challenges. Rooted in a “sample-as-optics” philosophy, this technique utilizes precisely engineered line-grating nanopatterns to modulate near-field X-ray illumination, coherently enhancing scattering signals from the line-gratings. We implement the method using Ni line-grating nanopatterns in electrochemical water oxidation. The periodic nanostructures serve as diffractive optical elements to reveal the Ni oxidation gradients and structural dynamics at the electrode-electrolyte interfaces. Finite-element simulations corroborate the observed trends by modeling variations in compositions and structures during electrocatalysis. Through integrating advanced sample design with coherent wave nature of soft X-rays, our approach opens accessible pathways to operando exploring chemical evolution and sub-nanometer dimensional variations simultaneously in electrochemical systems. This non-destructive method is efficient and element-specific, making it valuable for probing chemical and dimensional dynamics with appropriate modeling.