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Keynote Speaker

Prof. Dr. Markus Valtiner

Institute of Applied Physics, Vienna University of Technology, Austria

E-mail

markus.valtiner@tuwien.ac.at

Visualizing Thermodynamics: Ion-Specificity and the Electric Double Layer through AFM

Ion-specific effects at electrochemical interfaces are central to electrocatalysis, energy storage, and environmental processes—but despite their importance, the thermodynamic origins of these effects have remained elusive. In this talk, I will present recent advances where atomic force microscopy (AFM) plays a central role in resolving these challenges. We directly probe the structure and energetics of the electric double layer at the atomic scale, in excellent agreement with simulations.

Our work reveals that ion-specific adsorption is governed not by a single factor, such as hydration energy, but by the interplay of ion–surface interactions, ion–water coupling, in-plane electrostatic repulsion, and entropic penalties from disrupting interfacial water networks. When combined with molecular dynamics simulations and sum-frequency generation spectroscopy , AFM enables a comprehensive, quantitative framework to understand how ions reshape interfacial structure and energetics.

These insights offer a new, thermodynamically grounded view of the electric double layer—moving beyond mean-field models to a picture that is both molecular and predictive. I will discuss the broader implications of this approach for electrocatalysis , ion transport , and interface design , and highlight the power of AFM to push the frontiers of interfacial science.

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