Dr. Charlotte Vogt
19/03/2026
https://technion.zoom.us/j/97774562962
Catalytic reactions central to energy conversion, electrification, and sustainable chemical production occur at solid–liquid interfaces. These interfaces are commonly described using static structural descriptors, coordination numbers, adsorption energies, surface facets, yet the environments in which they operate are inherently dynamic, heterogeneous, and often far from (local) equilibrium. In this seminar, I will argue that catalytic activity and selectivity are governed not by static structures alone, but by dynamic interfacial states that evolve across multiple time scales. At electrified and reactive interfaces, coupled processes such as adsorption, solvation, double-layer reorganization, nucleation, and restructuring can generate emergent behaviors that cannot be understood through steady-state or averaged measurements. To resolve these hidden dynamics, my group has developed Dynamic Response Spectroscopy, a model-free, time-domain framework that uses controlled perturbations and multivariate decomposition to identify interfacial states based on their temporal correlations. Rather than asking which species are present, we ask which species change together in time, thus revealing causal coupling within complex systems. Using electrocatalytic CO2 reduction, ammonia oxidation, and mineralization from seawater as representative systems, I will demonstrate how dynamic interfacial reorganizations directly correlate with selectivity and stability. These findings suggest that dynamic coupling within the electric double layer and solvent environment constitutes a new class of catalytic descriptor one that bridges molecular chemistry, electrostatics, and nonlinear systems behavior.
Understanding catalytic interfaces as evolving, emergent systems helps to reshape mechanistic interpretation but also informs the design of scalable technologies for carbon management and sustainable energy conversion.