Activation reactant-electrode interactions

Reactions of practical interest involve the breaking or formation of chemical bonds, which require extra energy. The theory of Saveant and its subsequent developments are an ingenious extension of the Marcus-Hush type of theory to the breaking of a simple bond. The binding energy enters into the energy of activation, but the interaction with the metal electrode is still assumed to be weak, i.e., the reactants are not adsorbed. In this sense, the reaction is not catalyzed by the electronic interaction with the metal. 

As explained earlier, when NPs in solution occasionally collide with an inert (less active electro-chemically) electrode and make electrical contact (i.e., the NP resides within tunneling distance), the NP behaves as a nanoelectrode. To detect a single electrically contacted NP at a UME, an IS electron transfer reaction is used, wherein the reactant strongly interacts with the electrode material. Therefore, the electrocatalytic current response varies with the electrode material. An inert electrode is obtained by choosing an electrode material at which the catalytic reaction is sluggish within a certain potential region and where the NP material shows good electrocatalytic current at the same potential. With an OS electron transfer reaction, there is little interaction between the electrode and the reactant, so there is less difference in response between different electrode materials. 

Chapters 4 and 5 are devoted to molecular and biomolecular catalysis of electrochemical reactions. As discussed earlier, molecular electrochemistry deals with transforming molecules by electrochemical means. With molecular catalysis of electrochemical reactions, we address the converse aspect of molecular electrochemistry how to use molecules to produce better electrochemistry. It is first important to distinguish redox catalysis from chemical catalysis. In the first case, the catalytic effect stems from the three-dimensional dispersion of the mediator (catalyst), which merely shuttles the electrons between the electrode and the reactant. In chemical catalysis, there is a more intimate interaction between the active form of the catalyst and the reactant. The differences between the two types of catalysis are illustrated by examples of homogeneous systems in which not only the rapidity of the catalytic process, but also the selectivity problems, are discussed. 

Providing that the interactions between the reactant and the electrode in the electrochemical transition state, and between the two reactants in the homogeneous transition state, are negligible ("weak overlap" limit), the activation barriers for reactions 10 and 11 will be closely related. 

Anderson and his coworker carried out a series quantum chemistry studies of oxygen reduction reactions.52-57 Anderson and Abu first studied reversible potential and activation energies for uncatalyzed oxygen reduction to water and the reverse oxidation reaction using the MP2/6-31G method. The electrode was modeled by a non-interacting electron donor molecule with a chosen ionization potential (IP). The primary assumption is that when the reactant reaches a point on the reaction path where its electron affinity (EA) matched the donor IP, an electron transfer is initialized. The donor s IP or reactant s EA was related to the electrode potential by,... 

Although electrochemistry has much in cotmnon with surface science, the apphcation of the principles of catalytic activity to the reactions taking place in an electrochemical enviromnent is not straightforward. All electrochemical reactions of practical interest imply at least one step where an electron is transferred between species coming from the solution side or the electrode surface. Therefore electrochemical reactions occurring at the interfaces are governed by the interaction of the reactant both with the solvent and with the electrode. There is also an additional effect produced by the external applied potential, so that the Fermi level of the reactant can be easily tuned relative to the Fermi level of the electrode. 

The electrode surface participates actively in an electrochemical reaction sequence by providing adsorption sites for at least one reactant and for the reaction intermediates. Thus, the reaction rate and selectivity depend strongly upon the surface properties and its mode of interaction with reactive species and electrolytes. The existence, however, of the structured double layer interface and of the electric field under which electrosorption takes place distinguishes the latter from gas phase adsorption. Electrolyte ions, solvent molecules, and impurities may adsorb and compete with reactants for surface sites or they may poison the surface or contribute to surface changes under reaction. Despite the wealth of experimental information on the potential dependence of surface coverage and on the nature of some adsorbing species, a fundamental understanding of electrosorption mechanisms is still incomplete. 

For the strong-interaction electron-transfer reactions, substantial quantum mechanical resonance splitting occurs in the activated state, and the electron becomes delocalized—i.e., smeared out between the electrode and the electrolyte phase reactants. The electrode surface has a strong catalytic effect, and such reactions are sensitive to the electrode surface conditions. The theoretical treatments of electron transfer for the strong interaction case are in a very early state (35). 

---