题目：Electrochemical Reactions on Carbon Nanotubes: Effect of Electron Tunneling

报告人：Prof. Jiang San Ping (蒋三平)

　　　　　Fuels and Energy Technology Institute & Department of Chemical Engineering,
　　　　　Curtin University, Australia

时间：5月29日（周五）14:00-15:30

地点：李薰楼249会议室

Electrochemical Reactions on Carbon Nanotubes: Effect of Electron Tunneling

Abstract: “Electron tunneling occurs when the potential energy acting on the electron in the space between the reacting pair is higher than the energy of the electron in its initial localized site.”—Marcus and Sutin, Biochimica et Biophysica Acta 811, 265-322 (1985). Carbon nanotubes (CNTs) are seamless cylinders composed of one or more curved layers of graphene with either open or closed ends, and have been extensively used as catalysts supports for its unique properties such as large specific surface area, excellent chemical and mechanical properties and high electrical conductivity. In this talk, we show experimentally that electron tunneling occurs on CNTs composed of 2-3 concentric tubes or walls and such electron tunneling effect significantly promotes the kinetics of the electrochemical reactions for the oxygen evolution reaction (OER) in alkaline solutions as compared with typical single-walled and multi-walled CNTs (SWNTs & MWNTs). The number of inner tubes of CNTs has significant effect on the electrocatalytic activity of Pt and Pd nanoparticles on the electrooxidation reactions of ethanol, methanol, ethylene glycol and formic acid of direct alcohol fuel cells. Such electron tunneling of CNTs also plays a vital role in the direct electron transfer (DET) of proteins/enzymes such as glucose oxidase, GO_x, as shown in the Scheme below.

Scheme. Electron tunneling occurs between the outer wall and inner tubes of triple-walled CNTs (TWNTs), which promotes the direct electron transfer (DET) of redox center (FAD) of glucose oxidase, GO_x and enhances the electrocatalytic activity and sensitivity of GO_x for the detection of glucose.

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