Distinguishing deposition, corrosion, and stripping of transient heterogeneous materials during molecular electrocatalysis

The electrochemical quartz crystal microbalance (EQCM) can readily detect formation of heterogeneous materials on electrode surfaces. Here, the behaviors of two cobaloxime-type catalysts for proton reduction have been investigated with EQCM, providing new insight into the involvement of transient heterogeneous materials in catalysis.