Electronic origin of reorganization energy in interfacial electron transfer
. Here we show instead that the electrode DOS plays a central role in governing the reorganization energy, far outweighing its conventionally assumed role. Using atomically layered heterostructures, we tune the DOS of graphene and measure outer-sphere ET kinetics. We find the ensuing variation in ET rate arises from strong modulation in a reorganization energy associated with image potential localization in the electrode. Here we redefine the traditional paradigm of heterogeneous ET kinetics, revealing a deeper role of the electrode electronic structure in interfacial reactivity.
Authors
- Sonal Maroo (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0009-0001-7022-9965)
- Matthew P. Erodici (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-5908-083X)
- D. Kwabena Bediako (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0064-9814)
- David T. Limmer (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2766-0688)
- Jonathon Nessralla
- Leonardo Coello Escalante (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-8225-6779)
- Yihong Wang (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-1252-5579)
- Kenji Watanabe (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-3701-8119)
- Takashi Taniguchi (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1467-3105)
- Ayana Tabo
Institutions
- Berkeley College (US)
- Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (US)
- National Institute for Materials Science (JP)
- Kavli Energy NanoScience Institute (US)
- University of California, Berkeley (US)
Publication Details
- Journal
- Nature
- Published
- 2026-04-22
- DOI
- https://doi.org/10.1038/s41586-026-10311-2
- Primary Topic
- Electrochemical Analysis and Applications
- Type
- article
- Field-Weighted Citation Impact
- 0.00