We describe a voltammetric and spectroscopic study of Mg electrodeposition/dissolution (MgDep/Dis) in borohydride diglyme electrolyte solution containing Li(+) carried out on a Pt ultramicroelectrode (UME, r = 5 μm). The data reveal Li(+) cation facilitation that has not been previously recognized in studies made using macroelectrodes. While a single broad, asymmetric stripping peak is expected following MgDep on a Pt macroelectrode in 0.1 M Mg(BH4)2 + 1.5 M LiBH4 diglyme solution on a Pt UME, the stripping reveals three resolved oxidation peaks, suggesting that MgDep/Dis consists of not only a Mg/Mg(2+) redox reaction but also contributions from Mg-Li alloying/dissolution reaction processes. Detailed XPS, SIMS, ICP, and XRD studies were performed that confirm the importance of Mg-Li alloy formation processes, the nature of which is dependent on the reduction potential used during the MgDep step. Based on the electrochemical and surface analysis data, we propose an electrochemical mechanism for MgDep/Dis in a borohydride diglyme electrolyte solution that, in the presence of 1.5 M Li(+) ions, proceeds as follows: (1) Mg(2+) + 2e(-) ⇌ Mg; (2) (1 - x)Mg(2+) + xLi(+) + (2 - x)e(-) ⇌ Mg(1-x)Lix, 0 < x ≤ 0.02; and (3) (1 - y)Mg(2+) + yLi(+) + (2 - y)e(-) ⇌ Mg(1-y)Liy, 0.02 < y ≤ 0.09. Most significantly, we find that the potential-dependent MgDep/Dis kinetics are enhanced as the concentration of the LiBH4 in the diglyme electrolyte is increased, a result reflecting the facilitating influences of reduced uncompensated resistance and the enhanced electro-reduction kinetics of Mg(2+) due to Mg-Li alloy formation.

High concentrations of copper chloride solutions (in the molar range) are used in several industrial applications. In this work, we investigated the species distribution of copper chloride complexes and how to measure the copper concentration precisely at high concentrations using electrochemical methods, by including migrational effects. The latter, in fact, can be useful in determining the nature of the species in solution undergoing electron transfer at the electrode. The study indicates that the main species of Cu(II) complexes in high chloride concentration is CuCl4(2-) and the main species of Cu(I) complexes are CuCl2(-) and CuCl3(2-). However insoluble CuCl is an intermediate in the process and can deactivate the electrode surface. This can be ameliorated by increasing the temperature or Cl(-) concentration. Under these conditions, voltammetry with an ultramicroelectrode (UME) can measure copper concentration with good precision even at 1 M Cu(II) concentrations in a few molar chloride. The main charge of the species can be determined by fitting to a migration model.

Metal telluride nanostructures have demonstrated several potential applications particularly in harvesting and storing green energy. Metal tellurides are synthesized by tellurization process performed basically at high temperature in reducing gas atmosphere, which makes the process expensive and complicated. The development of a facile and economical process for desirable metal telluride nanostructures without complicated manipulation is still a challenge. In an effort to develop an alternative strategy of tellurization, herein we report a thin film formation of self-standing cobalt telluride nanotubes on various conducting and nonconducting substrates using a simple binder-free synthetic strategy based on anion exchange transformation from a thin film of cobalt hydroxycarbonate nanostructures in aqueous solution at room temperature. The nanostructured films before and after ion exchange transformation reaction are characterized using field emission scanning electron microscope, energy dispersive X-ray analyzer, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy, thin film X-ray diffraction technique, high resolution transmission electron microscope, and selected area electron diffraction analysis technique. After the ion exchange transformation of nanostructures, the film shows conversion from insulator to highly electrical conductive semimetallic characteristic. When used as a counter electrode in I3(-)/I(-) redox electrolyte based dye-sensitized solar cells, the telluride film exhibits an electrocatalytic reduction activity for I3(-) with a demonstration of solar-light to electrical power conversion efficiency of 8.10%, which is highly competitive to the efficiency of 8.20% exhibited by a benchmarked Pt-film counter electrode. On the other hand, the telluride film electrode also demonstrates electrocatalytic activity for oxygen evolution reaction from oxidation of water.

The Br–/Br2 redox couple in aqueous solution has been often employed for redox flow batteries along with N-methyl-N-ethyl pyrrolidinium bromide (MEPBr) as a bromine-complexing agent, which forms insoluble organic droplets of MEPBr3 complexes during electro-oxidation of Br–. We, for the first time, report the electrochemistry of Br– electro-oxidation in electrochemically generated single droplets of MEPBr3 using the current transient method on an ultramicroelectrode (UME). Current spikes were observed in the chronoamperogram of the aqueous solutions containing more than 32 mM of MEPBr, and they correspond to electro-oxidation of Br– in MEPBr3. The voltammetric behavior of Br– electro-oxidation in single droplets of MEPBr3 was similar to that in the aqueous phase. The maximum concentration of Br– in the MEPBr3 droplets was estimated to be ∼7.5 M by fitting the observed current transient curves to the simulation using a bulk electrolysis model. Our study reveals that MEPBr3 also plays a vital role as an electrochemical reaction medium for Br– electro-oxidation in the Br–/Br2 redox system.

The electrochemistry, spectroscopy, and electrogenerated chemiluminescence (ECL) of a series of π-stacked poly(fluorenemethylene) oligomers (Fn, n = 1-6) were investigated. The pendant cofacially oriented fluorene moieties are essentially in contact with each other by Van der Waals interaction promoting electronic delocalization in these species. All six compounds give successive cyclic voltammetric one-electron (1e) oxidations in 1:1 acetonitrile/benzene (MeCN/Bz), and the multiple 1e transfer properties of all these compounds were confirmed by chronoamperometric experiments with an ultramicroelectrode and digital simulations. The potentials for oxidation of the successive 1e transfers can be explained in terms of electrostatic interactions among the fluorenes. The monomer (F1) shows one irreversible wave, while F2 shows two reversible 1e waves. F3 shows only two reversible 1e oxidation waves, which is consistent with the large energy to remove a third electron because of the greater electrostatic repulsion, so the third wave is shifted toward more positive potentials. Both F4 and F5 show three reversible 1e oxidation waves, while F6 shows four reversible 1e waves. The removal of the first electron from an oligomer becomes easier as n increases. The stability of the radical cations also increases with n. The removal of consecutive electrons from Fn can be correlated with the distance between fluorene moieties. No reduction peaks were observed except for some broad ones at ~-3.2 V vs SCE in THF, which is consitent with the wide highest occupied molecular orbital-lowest unoccupied molecular orbital gap in these compounds (absorbance at about 300 nm). No characteristic annihilation ECL signal was observed for these compounds in 1:1 MeCN/Bz mixed solvent. However, the ECL of F6 in the presence of the coreactant C(2)O(4)(2-) showed a long-wavelength ECL emission that was proposed to be electrolyzed byproduct from the radical cation.

Two heteroditopic monomers, namely a thiopropyl-functionalized tetrathiafulvalene-annulated calix[4]pyrrole (SPr-TTF-C[4]P 1) and phenyl C61 butyric acid (PCBA 2), have been used to assemble a chemically and electrochemically responsive supramolecular ensemble. Addition of an organic base initiates self-assembly of the monomers via a molecular switching event. This results in the formation of materials that may be disaggregated via the addition of an organic acid or electrolysis.

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Fast-scan cyclic voltammetry (CV) and scanning electrochemical microscopy (SECM) were used to investigate the reduction of Sn(IV) as the hexabromo complex ion in a 2 M HBr-4 M NaBr medium. CV at scan rates to 100 V/s and SECM indicated the reaction pathway involves ligand-coupled electron transfer via an ECEC-DISP process: (1) one-electron reduction of Sn(IV)Br6(2-) to Sn(III)Br6(3-); (2) bromide dissociation of the reduced Sn(III)Br6(3-) to Sn(III)Br5(2-); (3) disproportionation of the reduced 2Sn(III)Br5(2-) to Sn(IV)Br5(-) and Sn(II)Br5(3-); (4) one-electron reduction of Sn(III)Br5(2-) to Sn(II)Br5(3-); (5) bromide dissociation from Sn(II)Br5 to Sn(II)Br4(2-). The intermediate Sn(III) species was confirmed by SECM(3-), where the Sn(III) generated at the Au tip was collected on a Au substrate in the tip generation/substrate collection mode when the distance between the tip and substrate was a few hundred nanometers.