When less is more: Fewer proton relays improve catalytic rates
Friday, January 10, 2014 - 07:30
in Physics & Chemistry
(Phys.org) —By directly comparing three closely related catalysts, scientists at the Center for Molecular Electrocatalysis established that hydrogen production speed and efficiency are influenced by the molecules' structure and proton relay arrangement, not the total number relays. They found that a catalyst built with the ligand called 8P2N, with at total of two proton relays in its nickel complex, is faster than a catalyst with double the number. Further, catalysts built with the related 7P2N, with its smaller heptagonal ring of atoms, is faster than its 8P2N counterpart, with a larger octagonal ring.