Quantifying the Effects of Disorder and Lateral Interactions on Chemically Modified Carbon Electrodes: Molecular Insights to Rationally Design Electrochemical Performance

在化学系大分子、超分子和纳米化学（MSN）项目的支持下，Matthew R.洛克特和他在查佩尔山的北卡罗来纳州大学的学生们正在研究无序和横向化学相互作用对化学修饰碳电极性能的影响。碳基电极被广泛使用，因为它们是鲁棒的，并且它们的化学、电子和光学性质可以通过将官能团连接到它们的表面而容易地调节。 将通过连接具有横向相互作用倾向的官能团来修饰碳电极，并表征产物的物理化学性质。 从进行该项目中获得的分子洞察力有望为重要应用的电化学系统的合理设计提供信息，例如传感，催化，电子和化学分离。 一个多样化的研究生和本科生群体将接受先进的综合和测量技术的培训，并计划开展几项社区外展活动，重点是促进多样性，公平性和包容性，特别强调促进LGBTQ+参与科学研究和整个社会。根据该奖项，Lockett研究团队将使用化学气相沉积技术开发具有可控成分的新型碳基电极材料。电极表面将用可以容易地与表面交换电子的官能团进行化学修饰。 新的仪器方法，包括扫描探针和单分子荧光显微镜，将被开发来表征修饰电极的表面结构和物理化学性质。将进行结构-功能指导的研究，以具体确定表面上的分子无序将如何影响模型复合物的电化学可逆性以及CO2还原催化剂的效率和选择性。通过进行实验获得的数据集将补充现有的集成技术，通过横向相互作用量化无序。该奖项反映了NSF的法定使命，并已被认为是值得通过使用基金会的智力价值和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估的支持。

With support from the Macromolecular, Supramolecular, and Nanochemistry (MSN) Program of the Division of Chemistry, Matthew R. Lockett and his students at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill are investigating the effect of disorder and lateral chemical interactions on the properties of chemically modified carbon electrodes. Carbon-based electrodes are widely used because they are robust and their chemical, electronic and optical properties are readily tunable through the attachment of functional groups to their surfaces. Carbon electrodes will be modified by attaching functional groups with propensity for lateral interaction and the physicochemical properties of the products will be characterized. The molecular insight gained from conducting this project is expected to inform the rational design of electrochemical systems for important applications, such as sensing, catalysis, electronics, and chemical separations. A diverse group of graduate and undergraduate students will be trained in advanced synthesis and measurement techniques and several community outreach activities are planned with a focus on promoting diversity, equity, and inclusion with a special emphasis on promoting LGBTQ+ participation in scientific research and in society as a whole. Under this award, the Lockett research team will develop new carbon-based electrode materials with controlled composition using chemical vapor deposition techniques. Electrode surfaces will be chemically modified with functional groups that can readily exchange electrons with the surface. New instrumental methodologies, including scanning probe and single molecule fluorescence microscopies, will be developed to characterize the surface structure and physicochemical properties of the modified electrodes. Structure-function guided studies will be conducted to specifically determine how molecular disorder on the surface will affect the electrochemical reversibility of model complexes and the efficiency and selectivity of CO2 reduction catalysts. The datasets obtained from conducting the experiments will complement existing ensemble techniques that quantify disorder through lateral interactions.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.