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![Protein Film Infrared Electrochemistry Demonstrated for Study of H2 Oxidation by a [NiFe] Hydrogenase](/_next/image?url=https%3A%2F%2Fcloudfront.jove.com%2FCDNSource%2Fteasers%2F55858.jpg&w=3840&q=50)
Protein Film Infrared Electrochemistry Demonstrated for Study of H2 Oxidation by a [NiFe] Hydrogenase
Published on: December 4, 2017
Electrocatalytic H2 evolution promoted by a bioinspired (N2S2)Ni(II) complex
Soumalya Sinha1, Giang N Tran1, Hanah Na1
1Department of Chemistry University of Illinois at Urbana Champaign 600 S. Mathews Avenue, Urbana, Illinois 61801, USA. mirica@illinois.edu.
Abstract:
A bioinspired (N2S2)Ni(II) electrocatalyst is reported that produces H2 from CF3CO2H with a turnover frequency (TOF) of ∼1250 s-1 at low acid concentration (<0.043 M) in MeCN. A mechanism for the H2 production by this electrocatalyst is proposed and its activity is benchmarked against those of other reported molecular Ni H2 evolution electrocatalysts. The involvement of a hemilabile pyridyl group of the N2S2 ligand is proposed to mimic the role of a cysteine residue involved in the biological proton reduction performed by [NiFe] hydrogenases.
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