Simultaneous topography and reaction flux mapping at and around electrocatalytic nanoparticles

The characterization of electrocatalytic reactions at individual nanoparticles (NPs) is presently of considerable interest but very challenging. Herein, we demonstrate how simple-to-fabricate nanopipette probes with diameters of approximately 30 nm can be deployed in a scanning ion conductance microscopy (SICM) platform to simultaneously visualize electrochemical reactivity and topography with high spatial resolution at electrochemical interfaces. By employing a self-referencing hopping mode protocol, whereby the probe is brought from bulk solution to the near-surface at each pixel, and with potential-time control applied at the substrate, current measurements at the nanopipette can be made with high precision and resolution (30 nm resolution, 2600 pixels μm–2,