Controlling Product Selectivity by Using Self-Assembled Lipid Electrodes

Abstract

Proton-coupled electron transfer (PCET) reactions are instrumental to many catalytic redox processes and renewable energy schemes. In this talk, I will describe an interdisciplinary approach to prepare nature-inspired nanometer-thick electrode materials to modulate the proton and electron transfer rates individually for the oxygen reduction reaction (ORR). ORR fundamentally limits the performance of fuel cells and related energy conversion technologies. By utilizing copper-catalyzed azide alkyne cycloaddition (CuAAC), molecular catalysts were clicked onto the electrochemical platform to generate the key component of a self-assembled hybrid bilayer membrane (HBM, Figure 1). By regulating the relative rates of proton and electron transfer independently, a higher selectivity for the desired 4e– process to generate water as the only product without compromising the activity of the catalyst was accomplished. This unique electrochemical platform is envisioned to offer new opportunities to discover catalytic materials that enable a sustainable future.