Transition chalcogenides

Normally, the kinetics of ORR and OER occurring at the cathode of fuel cells, including direct methanol fuel cells (DMFCs) is very slow. In order to speed up the ORR kinetics to reach a practical usable level in a fuel cell, ORR catalyst is needed at the air cathode. Platinum (Pt)-based materials are the most practical catalysts used in PEM technology. These Pt-based catalysts are too expensive to make fuel cells commercially viable, and hence extensive research over the past several decades has been focused on development of alternative catalysts. These alternative electrocatalysts include noble metals and allo37S, carbon materials, quinone and its derivatives, transition metal macrocyclic compounds, transition metal chalcogenides, transition metal carbides and transition metal oxides. In this chapter, we focus on both noble and nonnoble electrocatalysts being used in air cathodes and the kinetics and mechanisms O2 reduction/oxidation reaction (both ORR and OER), catal37zed by them. 

Arunkumar Panneerselvam and Mark Green Introduction II-VI chalcogenides Transition metal chalcogenides Copper chalcogenides IV-VI chalcogenides Ternary materials... 

Svane A, Temmerman W and Szotek Z 1999 Theory of pressure-induced phase transitions in cerium chalcogenides Phys. Rev. B 59 7888... 

All three elements combine readily with most metals and many non-metals to form binary chalcogenides. Indeed, selenides and tellurides are the most common mineral forms of these elements (p. 748). Nonstoichiometry abounds, particularly for compounds with the transition elements (where electronegativity differences are minimal and variable valency is favoured), and many of the chalcogenides can be considered... 

Crystal chemistry of the chalcogenides and pnictides of transition elements. F. Hulliger, Struct. Bonding (Berlin), 1968,4, 83-229 (532). 

Only two compounds, W2S7CI8 (362) and W4S9CI6 (97) are mentioned in the older literature, their true nature being uncertain. The existence of the other compounds in Table XV seems to be well established. All of them were reported by the same group, and, with few exceptions, it remains the only work (57, 58, 131). This example illustrates that the lack of information on chalcogenide halides, especially of transition elements, has its main origin in the lack of systematic investigations. 

Hulliger F (1968) Crystal Chemistry of Chalcogenides and Pnictides of the Transition Elements. 4 83-229... 

Quaternary chalcogenides of the type A Ln M X, containing three metal elements from different blocks of the Periodic Table (A is an alkali or alkaline earth metal, Ln is an /-block lanthanide or scandium, M is a p-block main group or a r/-block transition metal, and X is S or Se) are also known [65]. 

The structural chemistry of the actinides is often similar to that of lighter transition metals, such as Zr and Hf, and to that of the lanthanides however, the diffuse nature of the 5/ orbitals leads to some differences and specifically to interesting magnetic and electrical properties. The actinide sulfides are generally isostructural with the selenides, but not with the analogous tellurides. The binary chalcogenides of uranium and thorium have been discussed in detail [66], but the structural... 

Li J, Badding ME, DiSalvo FJ (1992) New layered ternary niobium teUurides Synthesis, structure, and properties of NbMTe2 (M = Fe, Co). Inorg Chem 31 1050-1054 Tremel W, Kleinke H, Derstroff V, Reisner C (1995) Transition metal chalcogenides New views on an old topic. J Alloy Compd 219 73-82... 

Alonso Vante N, Jaegermann W, Tributsch H, Hoenle W, Yvon K (1987) Electrocatalysis of oxygen reduction by chalcogenides containing mixed transition metal clusters. J Am Chem Soc 109 3251-3257... 

Perspectives for fabrication of improved oxygen electrodes at a low cost have been offered by non-noble, transition metal catalysts, although their intrinsic catalytic activity and stability are lower in comparison with those of Pt and Pt-alloys. The vast majority of these materials comprise (1) macrocyclic metal transition complexes of the N4-type having Fe or Co as the central metal ion, i.e., porphyrins, phthalocyanines, and tetraazaannulenes [6-8] (2) transition metal carbides, nitrides, and oxides (e.g., FeCjc, TaOjcNy, MnOx) and (3) transition metal chalcogenide cluster compounds based on Chevrel phases, and Ru-based cluster/amorphous systems that contain chalcogen elements, mostly selenium. 

Binary systems of ruthenium sulfide or selenide nanoparticles (RujcSy, RujcSey) are considered as the state-of-the-art ORR electrocatalysts in the class of non-Chevrel amorphous transition metal chalcogenides. Notably, in contrast to pyrite-type MS2 varieties (typically RUS2) utilized in industrial catalysis as effective cathodes for the molecular oxygen reduction in acid medium, these Ru-based cluster materials exhibit a fairly robust activity even in high methanol content environments of fuel cells. 

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