Electrocatalytic nanocarbon (EN) is a class of material receiving intense interest as a potential replacement for expensive, metal-based electrocatalysts for energy conversion and chemical production applications. The further development of EN will require an intricate knowledge of its catalytic behaviors, however, the true nature of their electrocatalytic activity remains elusive. This review highlights work that contributed valuable knowledge in the elucidation of EN catalytic mechanisms. Experimental evidence from spectroscopic studies and well-defined molecular models, along with the survey of computational studies, is summarized to document our current mechanistic understanding of EN-catalyzed oxygen, carbon dioxide and nitrogen electrochemistry. We hope this review will inspire future development of synthetic methods and in situ spectroscopic tools to make and study well-defined EN structures.

Metal-free motifs, such as graphitic carbon nitride, conjugated polymers, and doped nanostructures, are emerging as a new class of Earth-abundant materials for solar fuel devices. Although these metal-free structures show great potential, detailed mechanistic understanding of their performance remains limited. Here, we review important experimental and theoretical findings relevant to the role of metal-free motifs as either photoelectrodes or electrocatalysts. First, the light-harvesting characteristics of metal-free photoelectrodes (band energetics, exciton binding energies, charge carrier mobilities and lifetimes) are discussed and contrasted with those in traditional inorganic semiconductors (such as Si). Second, the mechanistic insights into the electrocatalytic oxygen reduction and evolution reactions, hydrogen evolution reaction, and carbon dioxide reduction reaction by metal-free motifs are summarized, including experimental surface-sensitive spectroscopy findings, studies on small molecular models, and computational modeling of these chemical transformations.

Exciton size and dynamics were studied in assemblies of two well-defined graphene quantum dots of varying size: hexabenzocoronene (HBC), where the aromatic core consists of 42 C atoms, and carbon quantum dot (CQD) with 78 C atoms. The synthesis of HBC and CQD were achieved using bottom-up chemical methods, while their assembly was studied using steady-state UV/vis spectroscopy, X-ray scattering, and electron microscopy. While HBC forms long ordered fibers, CQD was found not to assemble well. The exciton size and dynamics were studied using time-resolved laser spectroscopy. At early times (∼100 fs), the exciton was found to delocalize over ∼1−2 molecular units in both assemblies, which reflects the confined nature of excitons in carbon-based materials and is consistent with the calculated value of ∼2 molecular units. Exciton−exciton annihilation measurements provided the exciton diffusion lengths of 16 and 3 nm for HBC and CQD, respectively.

A highly active heterogenized molecular CO2 reduction catalyst on a conductive carbon support is investigated to identify if its improved catalytic activity can be attributed to strong electronic interactions between catalyst and support. The molecular structure and electronic character of a [Re+1(tBu-bpy)(CO)3Cl] (tBu-bpy = 4,4′-tert-butyl-2,2′-bipyridine) catalyst deposited on multi-walled carbon nanotubes (CNT) are characterized using Re L3-edge X-ray absorption spectroscopy (XAS) under electrochemical conditions and compared to the homogeneous catalyst The Re oxidation state is characterized from the near-edge absorption region, while structural changes of the catalyst are assessed from the extended x-ray absorption fine structure (EXAFS) under reducing conditions. Chloride ligand dissociation and a Re-centered reduction are both observed under applied reducing potential. The results confirm weak coupling of [Re(tBu-bpy)(CO)3Cl] with the support, since the supported catalyst exhibits the same oxidation changes as the homogenous case. However, these results do not preclude strong interactions between a reduced catalyst intermediate and the support, preliminarily investigated here using Quantum Mechanical (QM) calculations. Thus, our results suggest that complicated linkage schemes and strong electronic interactions with the initial catalyst species are not required to improve the activity of heterogenized molecular catalysts.

The conformational flexibility of three covalently linked dimers consisting of two xanthene‐based moieties connected by a diphenyl ether linker was studied using NMR spectroscopy, X‐ray crystallography, and density functional theory (DFT) calculations. The three dimers interconvert as a function of pH: the doubly cationic dimer (Xan+)2 exists in acidic solutions (pH < 0.5), the mono‐alcohol monocation Xan+–Xan‐OH at intermediate pH values (pH = 1–3), and the neutral diol at the highest pH‐values (pH > 3). Each dimer exhibits conformational degrees of freedom associated with rotations of either the xanthene moiety or of the diphenyl ether (DPE) linker. The barriers for rotation of the xanthylium moiety were evaluated using DFT calculations, yielding values of 23 kcal/mol for (Xan+)2 and 11 kcal/mol for (Xan‐OH)2, respectively. The rotational barrier for the diphenyl ether linker in Xan+–Xan‐OH (15 kcal/mol) was experimentally determined using variable temperature NMR measurements. The relative orientation of the two –OH groups in (Xan‐OH)2 diol was investigated in solution and the solid state using NMR spectroscopy and X‐ray crystallography. The conformer observed in the solid state was found to be the In–Out conformer, while free rotation of the xanthenol units is thought to occur on the NMR timescale at room temperature. These studies are relevant for the design of linkers for efficient water oxidation catalysts. Copyright © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

The electrochemical behavior of graphene nanoribbons deposited onto glassy carbon electrode using pi-stacking interactions was investigated. We illustrate here that strong electronic communication could be achieved with basal plane of glassy carbon using simple electrochemical treatment. File list (3) download file view on ChemRxiv Manuscript.pdf (762.42 KiB) download file view on ChemRxiv Supporting_Information.pdf (2.07 MiB) download file view on ChemRxiv Manuscript.docx (49.18 MiB)

Cocatalysis is a promising approach toward enhanced electrocatalytic activity. We report such synergic catalysis involving organic xanthylium-based catalyst, Xan, and oxides formed on the electrode surface. The oxygen evolution reaction (OER) was observed on some working electrodes (gold, platinum, glassy carbon, boron-doped diamond), while others (titanium and fluorine-doped tin oxide) exhibited no OER activity. On the basis of experimental data and supported by calculations, we propose a mechanism in which oxidized Xan activates electrode toward the rate-determining O-O bond formation. In light of our findings, efficient OER electrocatalysis can be achieved using materials that strongly bind oxygen species and electron-deficient organic cations.

Low discharge capacities resulting from electronically insulating Li2O2 film growth on carbon electrodes is a major impediment to Li-O2 battery commercialization. Redox mediation is an effective strategy to drive oxygen chemistry into solution, avoiding surface-mediated Li2O2 film growth and extending discharge lifetimes. However, to continue improving upon prior research, exploration of new classes of redox mediators and discovery of novel selection criteria is required. Herein, we report a new class of triarylmethyl cations which are effective at enhancing discharge capacities up to 26-fold. Surprisingly, we observe that redox mediators with more positive redox mediator reduction potentials, and thus more sluggish kinetics for reaction with oxygen, lead to larger discharge capacities because of their improved ability to suppress the surface-mediated reduction pathway. This result provides important structureproperty relationships for future improvements in redox-mediated O2/Li2O2 discharge capacities. To aid future redox mediator discovery, we applied a chronopotentiometry model to investigate the zones of redox mediator standard reduction potentials and concentrations needed to achieve efficient redox mediation at a given current density. This analysis is expected to guide future redox mediator exploration.