The transition away from fossil fuel combustion for energy generation will require the development of more efficient methods for harvesting useable energy from chemical fuels, particularly for the transportation sector. The electrochemical oxidation of fuels in a fuel cell is a promising solution; however, current fuel cell technologies are based on expensive noble metal catalysts like platinum and use hydrogen as the energy carrier, which poses significant safety and infrastructure challenges. Liquid carbon fuels such as formic acid and methanol are attractive alternative fuels to hydrogen due to their high volumetric energy densities, ease of handling, and established storage and transportation infrastructure. Additionally, while formic acid and methanol are currently produced from fossil fuel resources, both liquids could be synthesized from carbon dioxide using renewable energy to establish a carbon-neutral sustainable energy economy. We are developing molecular first-row transition metal complexes with reactive hydride ligands as key catalytic species to facilitate the necessary multiple proton and electron transfers for the electrochemical interconversion of methanol, formic acid, and carbon dioxide. By determining the thermodynamic and kinetic hydricity of these metal-hydride complexes, we are able to establish reactivity trends to guide the further design and optimization of these systems.

First-row transition metal complexes for the electrocatalytic oxidation of liquid fuels

Macromolecular Chemistry: The Second Century

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ACS Spring 2020 National Meeting & Expo

The official archive and repository for all ACS Meetings & Expositions abstracts and select posters or presentations.