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Mechanistic study of an immobilized molecular electrocatalyst by in situ gap-plasmon-assisted spectro-electrochemistry

Accepted version
Peer-reviewed

Type

Article

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Authors

Wright, D 
Lin, Q 
Földes, T 

Abstract

Immobilised first-row transition metal complexes are potential low-cost electrocatalysts for selective CO2 conversion to produce renewable fuels. Mechanistic understanding of their function is vital for the development of next-generation catalysts, though poor surface sensitivity of many techniques makes this challenging. Here, a nickel bis(terpyridine) complex is introduced as a CO2 reduction electrocatalyst in a unique electrode geometry, sandwiched by thiol anchoring moieties between two gold surfaces. Gap-plasmon-assisted surface-enhanced Raman scattering spectroscopy coupled with density functional theory calculations reveals the nature of the anchoring group plays a pivotal role in the catalytic mechanism by eliminating ligand loss. Our in-situ spectro-electrochemical measurement enables the detection of as few as 8 molecules undergoing redox transformations in the individual gold-sandwiched nanocavities, together with the calibration of electrical fields via vibrational Stark effects. This advance allows rapid exploration of non-resonant redox reactions at the few-molecule level and provides scope for future mechanistic studies of single-molecules.

Description

Keywords

34 Chemical Sciences, 3406 Physical Chemistry, 13 Climate Action

Journal Title

Nature Catalysis

Conference Name

Journal ISSN

2520-1158
2520-1158

Volume Title

4

Publisher

Springer Science and Business Media LLC

Rights

All rights reserved
Sponsorship
EPSRC (1819521)
Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EP/L015978/1)
Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EP/S022953/1)
Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EP/G037221/1)
Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EP/L027151/1)
Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EP/S025308/1)
Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EP/G060649/1)
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