Molecular Strain Accelerates Electron Transfer for Enhanced Oxygen Reduction.

Fe-N-C materials are emerging catalysts for replacing precious platinum in the oxygen reduction reaction (ORR) for renewable energy conversion. However, their potential is hindered by sluggish ORR kinetics, leading to a high overpotential and impeding efficient energy conversion. Using iron phthalocyanine (FePc) as a model catalyst, we elucidate how the local strain can enhance the ORR performance of Fe-N-Cs.

Subtle Modifications in Interface Configurations of Iron/Cobalt Phthalocyanine-Based Electrocatalysts Determine Molecular CO Reduction Activities.

Strain engineering has emerged as a powerful approach in steering material properties. However, the mechanism and potential limitations remain poorly understood. Here we report that subtle changes in molecular configurations can profoundly affect, conducively or adversely, the catalytic selectivity and product turnover frequencies (TOFs) of CO reduction reaction.

Ruthenium-Substituted Polyoxoanion Serves as Redox Shuttle and Intermediate Stabilizer in Selective Electrooxidation of Ethylene to Ethylene Glycol.

The high carbon intensity of present-day ethylene glycol (EG) production motivates interest in electrifying ethylene oxidation. Noting poor kinetics in prior reports of the organic electrooxidation of small hydrocarbons, we explored the design of mediators that activate and simultaneously stabilize light alkenes. A ruthenium-substituted polyoxometalate (Ru-POM, {Si[Ru(HO)WO]}) achieves 82% faradaic efficiency in EG production at 100 mA/cm under ambient conditions.

Elucidating the Interplay between Symmetry Distortions in Passivated MAPbI and the Rashba Splitting Effect.

Hybrid organic-inorganic perovskites play a critical role in modern optoelectronic applications, particularly as single photon sources due to their unusual bright ground state. However, the presence of trap states resulting from surface dangling bonds hinders their widespread commercial application. This work uses density functional theory (DFT) to study the effects of various passivating ligands and their binding sites on Rashba splitting, a phenomenon directly linked to the bright ground state.

Hexa-Fe(III) Carboxylate Complexes Facilitate Aerobic Hydrocarbon Oxidative Functionalization: Rh Catalyzed Oxidative Coupling of Benzene and Ethylene to Form Styrene.

Fe(II) carboxylates react with dioxygen and carboxylic acid to form Fe(μ-OH)(μ-O)(μ-X)(HX) (X = acetate or pivalate), which is an active oxidant for Rh-catalyzed arene alkenylation. Heating (150-200 °C) the catalyst precursor [(η-CH)Rh(μ-OAc)] with ethylene, benzene, Fe(II) carboxylate, and dioxygen yields styrene >30-fold faster than the reaction with dioxygen in the absence of the Fe(II) carboxylate additive. It is also demonstrated that Fe(μ-OH)(μ-O)(μ-X)(HX) is an active oxidant under anaerobic conditions, and the reduced material can be reoxidized to Fe(μ-OH)(μ-O)(μ-X)(HX) by dioxygen.