Photoelectrochemical reactions have emerged as a direct pathway to harvest solar energy for sustainable chemistry. However, using solar light for reactions to reduce carbon monoxide into fuels, produce hydrogen at large scale, or those used for polymer upcycling/recycling remain a moonshot challenge. In particular, understanding and controlling the complex microenvironments of solid electrodes or the hybrid interfaces of two-dimensional materials is critical for ensuring their longevity while optimizing a desired reaction yield. Detailed studies of these microenvironments necessitate developing new tools in-situ and in-operando experimental techniques that are sensitive to these interfacial properties.

In this talk, I will discuss designing a lab space that is accessible to physical chemists using mobility devices and developing new methodology to probe the microenvironments of hybrid interfaces. I will make two examples where the slow kinetics of interfacial water can affect the microenvironment of the reaction. In MXenes, a two-dimensional conductive material, confined water can persist to unexpectedly high temperatures, changing the temperature-dependence of conductivity and reducing the materials stability. We discuss strategies that can reliably remove confined water, to gain a true metallic behavior. In another example, on metallic electrodes, slow interfacial water can significantly affect the motion of ions at the electrical double layer, potentially affecting reactions involving anchored molecular catalysts. Probing these dynamics on various interfaces can elucidate strategies to minimize these effects.