1610413-52-9Relevant academic research and scientific papers
Proton switch for modulating oxygen reduction by a copper electrocatalyst embedded in a hybrid bilayer membrane
Barile, Christopher J.,Tse, Edmund C. M.,Li, Ying,Sobyra, Thomas B.,Zimmerman, Steven C.,Hosseini, Ali,Gewirth, Andrew A.
, p. 619 - 623 (2014)
Molecular switches gate many fundamental processes in natural and artificial systems. Here, we report the development of an electrochemical platform in which a proton carrier switches the activity of a catalyst. By incorporating an alkyl phosphate in the lipid layer of a hybrid bilayer membrane, we regulate proton transport to a Cu-based molecular oxygen reduction reaction catalyst. To construct this hybrid bilayer membrane system, we prepare an example of a synthetic Cu oxygen reduction reaction catalyst that forms a self-assembled monolayer on Au surfaces. We then embed this Cu catalyst inside a hybrid bilayer membrane by depositing a monolayer of lipid on the self-assembled monolayer. We envisage that this electrochemical system can give a unique mechanistic insight not only into the oxygen reduction reaction, but into proton-coupled electron transfer in general.
