Electrocatalysis and charge-transfer reactions at redox-modified zeolites

When aluminosilicate zeolites, which are microporous crystalline scaffolds, intersect with electrochemistry, new opportunities arise for control of ion- and electron-transfer reactions. In this Account, we describe how zeolites modified with either redox solutes or nanocrystalline particles (which when electrified behave as nanoelectrodes) give rise to new reaction products for old catalytic schemes, improve catalytic turnovers relative to the zeolite-free electrocatalyst, and generate practical amounts of electrosynthesized product at nanoelectrode-modified zeolites. The electrochemical reactions driven at redox-modified zeolites demonstrate the ability of the truncated topography of the zeolite boundary to affect charge-transfer reactions.