Oxygen Reduction Assisted by the Concert of Redox Activity and Proton Relay in a Cu(II) Complex

Iron- and nitrogen-doped carbon (Fe-N-C) materials are leading candidates to replace platinum in fuel cells, but their active site structures are poorly understood. A leading postulate is that iron active sites in this class of materials exist in an Fe-N4 pyridinic ligation environment. Yet, molecular Fe-based catalysts for the oxygen reduction reaction (ORR) generally feature pyrrolic coordination and pyridinic Fe-N4 catalysts are, to the best of our knowledge, non-existent. We report the synthesis and characterization of a molecular pyridinic hexaazacyclophane macrocycle, (phen2N2)Fe, and compare its spectroscopic, electrochemical, and catalytic properties for oxygen reduction to a prototypical Fe-N-C material, as well as iron phthalocyanine, (Pc)Fe, and iron octaethylporphyrin, (OEP)Fe, prototypical pyrrolic iron macrocycles. N 1s XPS signatures for coordinated N atoms in (phen2N2)Fe are positively shifted relative to (Pc)Fe and (OEP)Fe, and overlay with those of Fe-N-C. Likewise, spectroscopic XAS signatures of (phen2N2)Fe are distinct from those of both (Pc)Fe and (OEP)Fe, and are remarkably similar to those of Fe-N-C with compressed Fe–N bond lengths of 1.97 Å in (phen2N2)Fe that are close to the average 1.94 Å length in Fe-N-C. Electrochemical studies establish that both (Pc)Fe and (phen2N2)Fe have relatively high Fe(III/II) potentials at ~0.6 V, ~300 mV positive of (OEP)Fe. The ORR onset potential is found to directly correlate with the Fe(III/II) potential leading to a ~300 mV positive shift in the onset of ORR for (Pc)Fe and (phen2N2)Fe relative to (OEP)Fe. Consequently, the ORR onset for (phen2N2)Fe and (Pc)Fe is within 150 mV of Fe-N-C. Unlike (OEP)Fe and (Pc)Fe, (phen2N2)Fe displays excellent selectivity for 4-electron ORR with <4% maximum H2O2 production, comparable to Fe-N-C materials. The aggregate spectroscopic and electrochemical data establish (phen2N2)Fe as a pyridinic iron macrocycle that effectively models Fe-N-C active sites, thereby providing a rich molecular platform for understanding this important class of catalytic materials.

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Tuning the Redox Activity of Metal−Organic Frameworks for Enhanced, Selective O2 Binding

10.26434/chemrxiv.10316681.v1 ◽

2019 ◽

Author(s):

Andrew Rosen ◽

M. Rasel Mian ◽

Timur Islamoglu ◽

Haoyuan Chen ◽

Omar Farha ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Density Functional ◽

Metal Organic Frameworks ◽

Redox Activity ◽

Screening Methods ◽

Bridging Ligands ◽

Metal Centers ◽

Computational Screening ◽

Open Metal Sites ◽

Metal Organic ◽

Unsaturated Metal Sites

Metal−organic frameworks (MOFs) with coordinatively unsaturated metal sites are appealing as adsorbent materials due to their tunable functionality and ability to selectively bind small molecules. Through the use of computational screening methods based on periodic density functional theory, we investigate O2 and N2 adsorption at the coordinatively unsaturated metal sites of several MOF families. A variety of design handles are identified that can be used to modify the redox activity of the metal centers, including changing the functionalization of the linkers (replacing oxido donors with sulfido donors), anion exchange of bridging ligands (considering μ-Br-, μ-Cl-, μ-F-, μ-SH-, or μ-OH- groups), and altering the formal oxidation state of the metal. As a result, we show that it is possible to tune the O2 affinity at the open metal sites of MOFs for applications involving the strong and/or selective binding of O2. In contrast with O2 adsorption, N2 adsorption at open metal sites is predicted to be relatively weak across the MOF dataset, with the exception of MOFs containing synthetically elusive V2+ open metal sites. As one example from the screening study, we predict that exchanging the μ-Cl- ligands of M2Cl2(BBTA) (H2BBTA = 1H,5H-benzo(1,2-d:4,5-d′)bistriazole) with μ-OH- groups would significantly enhance the strength of O2 adsorption at the open metal sites without a corresponding increase in the N2 affinity. Experimental investigation of Co2Cl2(BBTA) and Co2(OH)2(BBTA) confirms that the former exhibits only weak physisorption, whereas the latter is capable of chemisorbing O2 at room temperature. The chemisorption behavior is attributed to the greater electron-donating character of the μ-OH- ligands and the presence of H-bonding interactions between the μ-OH- bridging ligands and the O2 adsorbate.

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Experimental Assessment of the Practical Oxidative Stability of Lithium Thiophosphate Solid Electrolytes

10.26434/chemrxiv.8014715.v1 ◽

2019 ◽

Author(s):

Georg Dewald ◽

Saneyuki Ohno ◽

Marvin Kraft ◽

Raimund Koerver ◽

Paul Till ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Cyclic Voltammetry ◽

Solid State ◽

Oxidative Stability ◽

Photoelectron Spectroscopy ◽

Solid Electrolytes ◽

Stability Limit ◽

Lithium Ion ◽

High Energy ◽

Redox Activity ◽

Solid State Batteries

All-solid-state batteries are often expected to replace conventional lithium-ion batteries in the future. However, the practical electrochemical and cycling stability of the best-conducting solid electrolytes, i.e. lithium thiophosphates, are still critical issues that prevent long-term stable high-energy cells. In this study, we use stepwisecyclic voltammetry to obtain information on the practical oxidative stability limit of Li10GeP2S12, a Li2S‑P2S5glass, as well as the argyrodite Li6PS5Cl solid electrolytes. We employ indium metal and carbon black as the counter and working electrode, respectively, the latter to increase the interfacial contact area to the electrolyte as compared to the commonly used planar steel electrodes. Using a stepwise increase in the reversal potentials, the onset potential at 25 °C of oxidative decomposition at the electrode-electrolyte interface is identified. X‑ray photoelectron spectroscopy is used to investigate the oxidation of sulfur(-II) in the thiophosphate polyanions to sulfur(0) as the dominant redox process in all electrolytes tested. Our results suggest that after the formation of these decomposition products, significant redox behavior is observed. This explains previously reported redox activity of thiophosphate solid electrolytes, which contributes to the overall cell performance in solid-state batteries. The stepwise cyclic voltammetryapproach presented here shows that the practical oxidative stability at 25 °C of thiophosphate solid electrolytes against carbon is kinetically higher than predicted by thermodynamic calculations. The method serves as an efficient guideline for the determination of practical, kinetic stability limits of solid electrolytes.

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Experimental Assessment of the Practical Oxidative Stability of Lithium Thiophosphate Solid Electrolytes

10.26434/chemrxiv.8014715 ◽

2019 ◽

Author(s):

Georg Dewald ◽

Saneyuki Ohno ◽

Marvin Kraft ◽

Raimund Koerver ◽

Paul Till ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Cyclic Voltammetry ◽

Solid State ◽

Oxidative Stability ◽

Photoelectron Spectroscopy ◽

Solid Electrolytes ◽

Stability Limit ◽

Lithium Ion ◽

High Energy ◽

Redox Activity ◽

Solid State Batteries

All-solid-state batteries are often expected to replace conventional lithium-ion batteries in the future. However, the practical electrochemical and cycling stability of the best-conducting solid electrolytes, i.e. lithium thiophosphates, are still critical issues that prevent long-term stable high-energy cells. In this study, we use stepwisecyclic voltammetry to obtain information on the practical oxidative stability limit of Li10GeP2S12, a Li2S‑P2S5glass, as well as the argyrodite Li6PS5Cl solid electrolytes. We employ indium metal and carbon black as the counter and working electrode, respectively, the latter to increase the interfacial contact area to the electrolyte as compared to the commonly used planar steel electrodes. Using a stepwise increase in the reversal potentials, the onset potential at 25 °C of oxidative decomposition at the electrode-electrolyte interface is identified. X‑ray photoelectron spectroscopy is used to investigate the oxidation of sulfur(-II) in the thiophosphate polyanions to sulfur(0) as the dominant redox process in all electrolytes tested. Our results suggest that after the formation of these decomposition products, significant redox behavior is observed. This explains previously reported redox activity of thiophosphate solid electrolytes, which contributes to the overall cell performance in solid-state batteries. The stepwise cyclic voltammetryapproach presented here shows that the practical oxidative stability at 25 °C of thiophosphate solid electrolytes against carbon is kinetically higher than predicted by thermodynamic calculations. The method serves as an efficient guideline for the determination of practical, kinetic stability limits of solid electrolytes.

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