Scanning tunneling microscopy adsorbate properties

The late 1980s saw the introduction into electrochemistry of a major new technique, scanning tunnelling microscopy (STM), which allows real-space (atomic) imaging of the structural and electronic properties of both bare and adsorbate-covered surfaces. The technique had originally been exploited at the gas/so id interface, but it was later realised that it could be employed in liquids. As a result, it has rapidly found application in electrochemistry. 

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