The Way Forward in Molecular Electrocatalysis

http://pubs.acs.org/doi/full/10.1021/acs.inorgchem.6b02502

Inorganic Chemistry, the Journal of the American Chemical Society, and ACS Catalysis are teaming up to launch a cross-journal inorganic chemistry virtual issue designed to showcase the most significant recent publications in electrocatalysis. Your recent Inorganic Chemistry article (doi: 10.1021/acs.inorgchem.6b00206) has been selected for a highlight based on its high scientific quality and broad appeal.

Synopsis:

Recent research suggests that transition-metal chalcogenides, most notably MoS₂ or MoS₃, are promising and inexpensive electrode materials for catalyzing the hydrogen evolution reaction (HER) from water. The catalytic activity of these materials is thought to be limited to their rare edge sites, however. Seeking a way to mimic the necessary active sites on a larger scale, Yiying Wu and colleagues have synthesized a series of three molybdenum sulfide catalysts with different bipyridine ligands. By modifying similar peroxo complexes, the researchers generate catalysts with molecular triangle moieties that mimic the edge sites of MoS_xmaterials. These catalysts facilitate the HER with high efficiencies, with tunable rate constants and overpotentials that depended on the basicity of the S-S bond within each catalyst. These results shed light on the potential of new Mo-S catalysts for HER.