Gold dithiolate composite materials for electrocatalytic CO2 reduction

As gold-based materials with low metal content, strong coordination bonds, and the potential for the growth of well-distributed metal ions, clusters or nanoparticles, gold thiolate coordination polymers are anticipated to be efficient catalysts for the electrocatalytic CO2 reduction reaction. This class of materials may be expanded to suit specific applications through ligand design, for example, using aromatic ligands which may shuttle electrons between active sites. Gold thiolate coordination polymers are characterised by repeating gold nodes linked by bridging thiolates and, in this work, this field is developed using ditopic molecular wire ligands to expand the dimensionality of the material, improve conductivity and enhance stability. The structure of these materials, hereafter referred to using the general term gold dithiolate polymer, is explored and strategies to control their crystallinity and structural features are presented. The gold dithiolate polymers are evaluated as CO2 reduction electrocatalysts and as precursors for the assembly of inter-connected networks of gold nanoparticles.

Funder

Research Ireland

Publisher

University of Galway

Rights

CC BY-NC-ND

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Collections

University of Galway Theses (PhD Theses)