Work

Beyond scaling relations in electrocatalysis: unifying concepts from molecular systems and metallic surfaces

Year: 2025

Type: article

Abstract: -building block to generate industrially relevant products. Although many electrocatalytic systems have demonstrated promising activities in producing a wide range of products, challenges remain in controlling the product selectivity and reducing the operating overpotential for large-scale applications. This Perspective outlines recent efforts in designing tailored microenvironments in electrocatalytic systems to boost their selectivity and energy efficiency. We review examples from homogeneous and heterogeneous systems, emphasizing mechanistic studies that elucidate how the modulation of the space surrounding catalytic active sites can control the outcome of electrocatalysis. Lastly, we carry out a thermodynamic-kinetic analysis to identify existing scaling relationships that govern the electrocatalytic performance of molecular catalysts, and we highlight examples of catalysts that circumvent these relations through the functionalization of their secondary coordination sphere.

Source: Chemical Science

DOI: 10.1039/d4sc07864k

Authors: Kirstine Nygaard Kolding, Kristian Torbensen, Alonso Rosas-Hernández

Institutions: Aarhus University, Novo Nordisk Foundation

Language: English

Topic: Electrocatalysts for Energy Conversion

Subfield: Renewable Energy, Sustainability and the Environment

Field: Energy

Domain: Physical Sciences

SDG: Affordable and clean energy

Open Access status: diamond

Funders: Danmarks Grundforskningsfond, Novo Nordisk Fonden