Scanning probe microscopy of an electrode/ionic liquid interface

The full understanding of an electrode/ionic liquid (IL) interface is crucial for the use of ILs as electrolytes in applications for energy conversion and storage. Scanning probe microscopy (SPM) has proved to be a very powerful method to probe the local structure of this interface and obtain real-time and real-space images with an atomic resolution. Herein we present the recent advances in SPM studies on the electrode/IL interface and emphasize the aspects that are most important in our opinion. We finish with some thoughts on future research directions in the field.