Electron transfer, activation control adsorption

A number of metal porphyrins have been examined as electrocatalysts for H20 reduction to H2. Cobalt complexes of water soluble masri-tetrakis(7V-methylpyridinium-4-yl)porphyrin chloride, meso-tetrakis(4-pyridyl)porphyrin, and mam-tetrakis(A,A,A-trimethylamlinium-4-yl)porphyrin chloride have been shown to catalyze H2 production via controlled potential electrolysis at relatively low overpotential (—0.95 V vs. SCE at Hg pool in 0.1 M in fluoroacetic acid), with nearly 100% current efficiency.12 Since the electrode kinetics appeared to be dominated by porphyrin adsorption at the electrode surface, H2-evolution catalysts have been examined at Co-porphyrin films on electrode surfaces.13,14 These catalytic systems appeared to be limited by slow electron transfer or poor stability.13 However, CoTPP incorporated into a Nafion membrane coated on a Pt electrode shows high activity for H2 production, and the catalysis takes place at the theoretical potential of H+/H2.14... 

The activation energies for the two types of reactions may be qualitatively considered. Type A adsorption will have a certain activation energy, x, not defined by our model, which will limit the rate of Type A adsorption. Type B adsorption will also have this activation energy Ea, which may limit its rate. However, as seen from Fig. 8, it will in addition have an activation energy of the electron transfer type, Eb = Ei (in Fig. 1) =0.8 e.v. = 18 Kcal./mole. Thus if E. > Eb, the rates of the two types of adsorption will be equal if Eb > Ea, Type B adsorption will be slower, controlled by an activation energy of about 0.8 e.v. 

We see therefore that photoactive semiconductor particles provide ideal environments for control of interfacial electron transfer. Photoinduced electron-hole pairs formed on irradiated semiconductor suspensions, as in photoelectrochemical cells, allow for reactivity control not available in homogeneous solution. This altered activity derives from controlled adsorption on a chemically manipula-ble surface, controlled potential afforded by the valence band edge positions, controlled kinetics by virtue of band bending effects, and controlled current flow by judicious choice of incident light intensity. 

In most electrochemical reactions, except very fast diffusion-controlled processes, the adsorption of reactants is a relatively fast step compared with succeeding electron transfer steps and can be considered in quasi-equilibrium. A knowledge of reactant adsorption behavior is necessary for interpretation of the mechanism of the reaction. Equilibrium adsorption studies are directed toward the evaluation of the surface concentration of reactants in relation to the electrode potential, the temperature, the activity of reactants, and other species in the bulk and the energy of adsorption as a function of the partial coverage 0. Study of the surface coverage by adsorbed intermediates can in some cases give additional information to the kinetic approach. Determination of adsorbed intermediates would indicate the path which the reaction follows. 

In principle, like all electrochemical reactions initiated by the transfer of an electron across an electrode-electrolyte interface, photoelectrochemical transformations offer the possibility of more precise control than can be attained with reactions that take place in homogeneous solution [62, 63]. This better selectivity derives from three features associated with reactions that take place on surfaces, and hence with the photoelectrochemical event the applied potential (allowing for specific activation of a functional group whose oxidation potential is higher, even in a multifunctional molecule) the chemical nature of the electrode surface (and hence of the adsorption equilibrium constant of a specific molecule present in the double layer) and, finally, control of current flow (and hence a constraint on the number of electrons passed to an adsorbed reactant). 

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