A trinuclear cobalt complex, a new electrocatalyst for oxygen reduction to H2O2

摘要

The reaction of 2-pyridylamino-N,N-bis(2-methylene-4,6-bimethyl)phenol (H2L) and Co(CH3CO2)2 affords a new trinuclear cobalt complex, [L-Co-mu(CH3CO2)-mu(CH3O)-Co-mu(CH3CO2)-mu(CH3O)-Co-L], which has been charac-terized by using physics-chemical and spectroscopic methods. Electrochemical investigations exhibit that this cobalt complex can serve as an electro-catalyst for oxygen reduction reaction (ORR). Under-0.4 V vs Ag/AgCl, the H2O2 yield is almost 100 % in 0.20 M KOH. Studies indicate that the dissociation of CH3O- group from the trinuclear cobalt complex makes empty positions on cobalt centres, amenable to binding to dioxygen (O2) for the formation of H2O2 or H2O.

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