Methods for Electrocatalysis

An ideal combinatorial and high-throughput workflow consists of a synthesis and a screening step of comparable throughput. 

Three techniques have been described in the literature to prepare combinatorial libraries of fuel cell electrocatalysts solution-based methods [8, 10-14], electrodeposition methods [15-17] and thin film, vacuum deposition methods [18-21]. Vacuum deposition methods were chosen herein for electrocatalyst libraries in order to focus on the intrinsic activity of the materials, e.g., for ordered or disordered single-phase, metal alloys. 

Two general techniques have been described for the high-throughput screening of electrocatalyst libraries optical screening and electrochemical screening. 

A third screening method for arrays of electrocatalysts was recently introduced by Hillier and coworkers [15, 29, 30]. Using a scanning electrochemical microscope (SECM), a microelectrode tip is moved over an electrocatalyst array. The resulting electrochemical feedback currents are measured and used to generate an activity map of the electrocatalyst library. This method does not require individual electronic addressability for each electrocatalyst 

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GB/T 20042.4-2009 Proton exchange membrane fuel cell—Part 4 Test method for electrocatalysis (China)... 

Density Functional Theory Methods for Electrocatalysis Table 3.1... 

The efficient utilization of C02 has attracted considerable attention from fundamental research to industrial application in recent years. Heterogeneous catalysis, electrocatalysis, and photocatalysis are presently the three predominant chemical methods for converting C02 into some useful chemicals, such as methanol, formic... 

High-temperature superconducting oxides are of interest for electrocatalysis since they represent materials that are comprehensively characterized by various physical methods. They therefore hold promise for obtaining new correlative relationships between catalytic activity and the bulk properties of materials. 

Understanding the activity and selectivity properties of electrocatalysts requires the characterization of catalyst surfaces, determination of adsorption characteristics, identification of surface intermediates and of all reaction products and paths, and mechanistic deliberation for complex as well as model reactions. Electrochemical and classical methods for adsorption studies are well documented in the literature (5, 7-9, 25, 24, 373. Here, we shall outline briefly some prominent electrochemical methods and some nonelectrochemical techniques that can provide new insight into electrocatalysis. Electrode kinetic parameters can be determined by potentionstatic methods using the methodology of Section II1,D,3. 

The opponents of fundamental studies with idealized electrocatalysts and reactions cannot deny the unique insight into surface molecular and electronic or energetic interactions that new surface and mechanistic techniques generate. A combination of surface spectrometries, isotopic reactions, and conventional electrode kinetics could help unravel some of the surface mysteries. The application of such methods in electrocatalysis is limited at present to hydrogen and oxygen reactants on simple catalytic surfaces. Extension to a variety of model and complex reactions should be attempted soon. The prospective explorer, however, should strive and attend with care the standardization of analytical methods for meaningful interpretations and comparisons. 

The author s own interest in this area includes new functional polymers for solid phase synthesis [11-13], polymers with molecularly imprinted substrate selectivity [14], polymer-supported transition metal catalysts [15], novel polymers of potential interest for electrocatalysis [16], targeting of colloidal drug carriers [17, 18], molecular composites [19], and biocompatible surfaces [20]. These studies have led to, among other things, a uniquely versatile method of polymer synthesis based on the chemistry of activated acrylates, i.e. polymer synthesis via activated esters. Various aspects of polymers and copolymers of activated (meth)acrylates have also been investigated in this and several other laboratories. 

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