Enhancing Hydrogen Evolution Activity of Au(111) in Alkaline Media through Molecular Engineering of a 2D Polymer

Alexa, Patrick; Lombardi, Juan Manuel; Abufager, Paula; Busnengo, Heriberto Fabio; Grumelli, Doris; Vyas, Vijay S.; Haase, Frederik; Lotsch, Bettina V.; Gutzler, Rico and Kern, Klaus (2020): Enhancing Hydrogen Evolution Activity of Au(111) in Alkaline Media through Molecular Engineering of a 2D Polymer. In: Angewandte Chemie, Vol. 59, No. 22: pp. 8411-8415

Abstract

The electrochemical splitting of water holds promise for the storage of energy produced intermittently by renewable energy sources. The evolution of hydrogen currently relies on the use of platinum as a catalyst—which is scarce and expensive—and ongoing research is focused towards finding cheaper alternatives. In this context, 2D polymers grown as single layers on surfaces have emerged as porous materials with tunable chemical and electronic structures that can be used for improving the catalytic activity of metal surfaces. Here, we use designed organic molecules to fabricate covalent 2D architectures by an Ullmann‐type coupling reaction on Au(111). The polymer‐patterned gold electrode exhibits a hydrogen evolution reaction activity up to three times higher than that of bare gold. Through rational design of the polymer on the molecular level we engineered hydrogen evolution activity by an approach that can be easily extended to other electrocatalytic reactions.

• Item Type: Journal article
• EU Funded Grant Agreement Number: 639233
• EU Projects: Horizon 2020 > ERC Grants > ERC Starting Grant > ERC Grant 639233: Fuel from sunlight: Covalent organic frameworks as integrated platforms for photocatalytic water splitting and CO2 reduction
• Form of publication: Publisher's Version
• Faculties: Chemistry and Pharmacy > Department of Chemistry
• Subjects: 500 Science > 540 Chemistry
• ISSN: 1521-3773
• Language: English