Lecture
Van Marum Colloquium: Iontronics: what, how and why?
- Date
- Thursday 9 April 2026
- Time
- Location
-
Gorlaeus Building
Einsteinweg 55
2333 CC Leiden - Room
- BE.0.10
Abstract
The transport of ions in liquid under strong confinement is central to energy transition technologies such as supercapacitors, batteries and supported electrocatalysts. The behavior of ions is challenging to access experimentally, however, due to the short length scales involved (order 1 nm). I will describe our attempts to develop lithographically-based electrochemical nanofluidic techniques for doing so. These tools have allowed us to probe the high-frequency response of nanoelectrodes, the electrical properties of individual electroactive polymer chains, and a variety of electroosmotic effects in which charge and fluid transport are coupled locally. I will conclude with a short outlook on how these techniques can be applied in the future to model the complex behavior inherent to present-day energy storage and electrocatalytic systems.