In this talk, I will discuss recent examples from electrochemistry in which the system’s behavior is ‘more than the sum of its parts’ and nonlinear interactions generate complex forms of organization. Thereby, I will highlight general conditions that generate certain types of cooperative phenomena. Experimental examples range from electrocatalytic reactions, to the electrooxidation of photoelectrodes. The patterns forming can be understood in the framework of ‘many particle models’ with nonlinear and nonlocal interaction between the particles, as they are often found in electrochemical systems. [more]

Scanning tunneling microscopy (STM) regularly offers atomic resolution, can work at high pressures and only interacts weakly with matter - seemingly perfect conditions for gaining access to the microscopic processes on a catalyst surface. On the other hand, the number of examples in which working catalysts have actually been imaged with the STM has remained small. [more]