Highly efficient platinum group metal free based membrane-electrode assembly for anion exchange membrane water electrolysis.

Low-temperature electricity-driven water splitting is an established technology for hydrogen production. However, the two main types, namely proton exchange membrane (PEM) and liquid alkaline electrolysis, have limitations. For instance, PEM electrolysis requires a high amount of costly platinum-group-metal (PGM) catalysts, and liquid alkaline electrolysis is not well suited for intermittent operation. Herein we report a highly efficient alkaline polymer electrolysis design, which uses a membrane-electrode assembly (MEA) based on low-cost transition-metal catalysts and an anion exchange membrane (AEM). This system exhibited similar performance to the one achievable with PGM catalysts. Moreover, it is very suitable for intermittent power operation, durable, and able to efficiently operate at differential pressure up to 3 MPa. This system combines the benefits of PEM and liquid alkaline technologies allowing the scalable production of low-cost hydrogen from renewable sources.

Complexation of beryllium(II) ion by phosphinate ligands in aqueous solution. Synthesis and XRPD structure determination of Be[(PhPO2)2CH2](H2O)2.

Two bifunctional ligands, phenyl(carboxymethyl)phosphinate (ccp(2-) and P,P'-diphenylmethylenediphosphinate (pcp(2-)), have been tested as chelating agents of beryllium(II). Both ligands have the same charge and a similar chelating structure, but whereas the 1:1 adduct of pcp(2-), Be(pcp)(H(2)O)(2), could be isolated as a white powder, no pure compound could be isolated from solutions containing beryllium(II) and ccp(2-). Instead, the solutions were examined by means of potentiometry and (9)Be NMR spectroscopy. Analysis of the potentiometric titration data with the program HYPERQUAD suggested the formation of the complex species BeL, [BeHL](+), [BeL(2)](2-), and [BeHL(2)](-) (L = ccp). The formation constants for these species were determined at 25 degrees C and I = 0.5 mol dm(-3) NaClO(4). The (9)Be NMR spectra are consistent with this model. The formation constants found for the ccp(2-) complexes are lower than those reported for related phosphonate ligands. However, the effective stability constant (which gives a better indication of the intrinsic coordinating capacity of the ligand at a particular pH) of the complex [Be(ccp)(2)](2-) at pH < 4 is greater than the effective constants of the corresponding phosphonoacetate and methylenediphosphonate complexes. The structure of Be(pcp)(H(2)O)(2) was determined by X-ray powder diffraction methods and consists of discrete molecules interconnected by an extended 2D network of hydrogen bonds, resulting in a stacking of doublelayers with a polar core and a lipophilic surface. Crystal data: C(13)H(16)BeO(6)P(2), fw 339.21, monoclinic P2(1)/c, a = 16.174(1) A, b = 8.979(1) A, c = 10.929(1) A, beta = 90.398(9) degrees, V = 1587.2(3) A(3), Z = 4.

Different complexation properties of some hydroxy keto heterocycles toward beryllium(II) in aqueous solutions: experimental and theoretical studies.

Four heterocycles containing hydroxy and keto functionalities have been tested as chelating agents of beryllium(II). These are in the order (i) 3-hydroxy-2-methyl-4H-pyran-4-one (maltol, Hma), (ii) 5-hydroxy-2-(hydroxymethyl)-4H-pyran-4-one (kojic acid, Hka), (iii) 3-hydroxy-1,2-dimethyl-4-pyridinone (Hdpp), (iv) 1-(3-hydroxy-2-furanyl)ethanone (isomaltol, Hima). Although the skeletons of the first three species, with one nitrogen or oxygen heteroatom at the six-membered ring, are almost superimposable, straightforward synthesis and crystallization is achieved only for the 1:2 adduct Be(dpp)(2), 1. Also the complex Be(ima)(2), 2, precipitates in high yield but the ima(-) ligand has a different skeletal structure. X-ray determinations of 1 and 2 showed that the Be(2+) ion is pseudotetrahedrally coordinated by two chelating ligands with slightly asymmetric Be-O(alkoxo) and Be-O(keto) bonds. The complex Be(ma)(2) precipitates in low yields together with large amounts of unreacted Hma while, under the same conditions, no trace of the analogous species Be(ka)(2) has been observed. This paper presents the results of potentiometric and NMR studies in the aqueous solutions as well as of DFT structural optimizations for all of the free acids, their associated bases, and the adducts of the type [BeL(H(2)O)(2)](+) and BeL(2) in the gas phase. It is consistently found that the basicity of the ligands and the stability of their complexes decrease in the order dpp(-) > ma(-) > ka(-) > ima(-). In solution, all of the anionic ligands form adducts of the type [BeL(H(2)O)(2)](+) at low pH values, whereas higher concentrations of the free anion are required to form 1:2 adducts. The pH, the basicity, and the stability constants of the complexes as well as the formation of competing beryllium hydroxide species are strictly correlated factors for the obtainment of the latter type of adduct. The DFT calculations account nicely for the different donor powers of the various chelates in terms of electronic redistribution and associated energetics.