Water and Ammonia electrooxidation using Ruthenium based complexes and hybrid organosilica nanomaterials as an effective heterogeneous molecular anode

Our society is currently solving one of the most complicated yet crucial questions since the industrial revolution, i.e. finding a cheap, fully green replacement for fossil fuels with a similar energy density. Many see hydrogen as such a substitution; however, the absence of its fully green production poses a problem. The closest to solving this issue is the electrocatalytic decomposition of small molecules such as Water or Ammonia oxidation reactions (WOR or AOR). Both generate H2 from cheap sources (H2O, NH3), releasing only benign byproducts (O2, N2). However, the current studies of molecular AOR and WOR catalysts point to persisting problems with their performance and limitations of the homogeneous process. Thus, a recently pioneered solution is to attach the molecular catalyst to the electrode and create a so-called molecular heterogenous anode. Herein proposed project links the novel homogenous WOR and AOR electrocatalysts with the hybrid organosilane materials to prepare heterogeneous molecular anodes with defined catalytic mechanism but superior durability and performance.