Title: "Single-Entity Imaging of Electrochemical Processes"

Vig Sundaresan, Assistant Professor

University of Mississippi, Dept of Chemistry and Biochemistry

Host: Robbyn Anand

Abstract: Electrochemical reactions are important in various applications, including energy conversion and storage, electrodeposition, and corrosion. However, classical electrochemical methods—such as cyclic voltammetry—typically report the cumulative performance of the entire system, thereby obscuring its inherent heterogeneity. To address this challenge, single-entity electrochemistry—the study of one entity at a time—offers a distinct advantage. This approach allows us to discern the contribution of each individual entity to the ensemble response and to gain deeper insights into the correlation between structure and activity. Moreover, imaging these single-entity electrochemical reactions is even more advantageous, as it provides insights that cannot be obtained from electrochemical methods alone. In my talk, I will discuss two electrochemical reactions investigated using different optical microscopy techniques: (1) the formation of gold nanoparticles during the electrodeposition reaction, studied using an advanced multi-parameter super-resolution imaging technique known as calcite-assisted localization and kinetics (CLocK) microscopy; and (2) the visualization of electrochemically generated hydrogen microbubbles at an ultramicroelectrode using a dark-field imaging technique. This research highlights how the integration of optical microscopy with traditional electrochemical methods can reveal complex interfacial dynamics at the single-entity level.

Biosketch: Vignesh Sundaresan is an Assistant Professor of Chemistry and Biochemistry at the University of Mississippi. He obtained his Ph.D. in 2018 from Temple University under the supervision of Prof. Katherine A. Willets. He then worked as a postdoctoral associate with Prof. Paul W. Bohn at the University of Notre Dame from 2019 to 2021. He served as an Assistant Research Professor at the University of Notre Dame between 2021 and 2022. His laboratory currently focuses on employing correlated opto-electrochemical techniques to study single entities and electrochemical phenomena at the nanoscale. He has received four NSF Awards, including the CAREER and EPSCoR Research Fellows Award.