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Published on: December 6, 2021
Electrooxidation mechanisms and discharge characteristics of borohydride on different catalytic metal surfaces
Hua Dong1, Ruixiang Feng, Xinping Ai
1Department of Chemistry, Wuhan University, Wuhan 430072, PR China.
Abstract:
The electrooxidation behavior of BH4(-) on electrocatalytic Pt, hydrolytically active Ni, and noncatalytic Au electrodes were comparatively reexamined and a more generalized reaction mechanism was proposed to explain the very different anodic properties of BH4(-) on the different metal electrodes. In this mechanism, the anodic reaction behavior of BH4(-) are determined by a pair of conjugated reactions: electrochemical oxidation and chemical hydrolysis of BH4(-), the relative rates of which depend on the anodic materials, applied potentials, and chemical states of the anodic surfaces. At Pt surface, the electron number of BH4(-) oxidation increases with the increased potential polarization, while the actual electron number of BH4(-) oxidation on Ni electrode is 4 at most due to the poor electrocatalytic activity of the oxidized Ni surface and the strong catalytic activity of metallic Ni for chemical recombination of the adsorbed H intermediate. On the hydrolytic-inactive Au surface, the anodic reaction of BH4(-) can proceed predominately through direct electrochemical oxidation, delivering a near 8e discharge capacity.
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Hydroboration proceeds in a concerted fashion with the attack of borane on the π bond, giving a cyclic four-centered transition state. The –BH2 group is bonded to the less substituted carbon and –H to the more substituted carbon. The concerted nature requires the simultaneous addition of –H and –BH2 across the same face of the alkene giving syn stereochemistry.
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