TY - THES A1 - Ledendecker, Marc T1 - En route towards advanced catalyst materials for the electrocatalytic water splitting reaction T1 - Innovative Katalysatormaterialien für die elektrokatalytische Wasserspaltung BT - mechanistic insights into the formation of metal carbides, phosphides, sulfides and nitrides BT - mechanistische Einblicke in die Bildung von Metallcarbiden, -phosphiden, -sulfiden und –nitriden N2 - The thesis on hand deals with the development of new types of catalysts based on pristine metals and ceramic materials and their application as catalysts for the electrocatalytic water splitting reaction. In order to breathe life into this technology, cost-efficient, stable and efficient catalysts are imploringly desired. In this manner, the preparation of Mn-, N-, S-, P-, and C-containing nickel materials has been investigated together with the theoretical and electrochemical elucidation of their activity towards the hydrogen (and oxygen) evolution reaction. The Sabatier principle has been used as the principal guideline towards successful tuning of catalytic sites. Furthermore, two pathways have been chosen to ameliorate the electrocatalytic performance, namely, the direct improvement of intrinsic properties through appropriate material selection and secondly the increase of surface area of the catalytic material with an increased amount of active sites. In this manner, bringing materials with optimized hydrogen adsorption free energy onto high surface area support, catalytic performances approaching the golden standards of noble metals were feasible. Despite varying applied synthesis strategies (wet chemistry in organic solvents, ionothermal reaction, gas phase reaction), one goal has been systematically pursued: to understand the driving mechanism of the growth. Moreover, deeper understanding of inherent properties and kinetic parameters of the catalytic materials has been gained. N2 - Wasserstoff ist einer der vielversprechendsten Energieträger aufgrund seiner hohen massenbezogenen Energiedichte. In diesem Zusammenhang erlaubt die elektrokatalytische Wasserspaltung die einfache und saubere Herstellung von Wasserstoff. Allerdings erfordert die Trennung der relativ starken Wasserstoff-Sauerstoff Bindungen beträchtliche Energie und teure Edelmetalle wie Platin oder Iridium zeigen die höchste katalytische Aktivität mit geringer Überspannung und hohen Stromdichten was zu einem guten Wirkungsgrad führt. Aus dieser Motivation heraus befasst sich die vorliegende Arbeit mit der Entwicklung neuer Katalysatoren, die auf Metalllegierungen und Keramiken basieren, sowie ihrer Anwendung für die elektrokatalytische Wasserspaltung. Besonderes Augenmerk wurde auf die Herstellung von kostengünstigen mangan-, stickstoff-, schwefel-, phosphor- und kohlenstoffhaltigen Nickelwerkstoffen gelegt und deren Aktivität experimentell und theoretisch erforscht. Nickel wurde aufgrund seines relativ günstigen Preises und hohen Vorkommens gewählt. Das Prinzip von Sabatier – die Wechselwirkung zwischen Adsorbat und Substrat sollte weder zu stark noch zu schwach sein – wurde als Leitfaden für die Entwicklung effizienter Katalysatoren benutzt. Trotz unterschiedlich angewendeter Synthesestrategien (Synthese in organischen Lösungsmitteln, ionothermale Reaktion oder Gasphasenreaktion), wurde zusätzlich systematisch ein weiteres Ziel verfolgt: Die Wachstums- und Entstehungsmechanismen dieser Materialen zu ergründen. Darüber hinaus wurde ein tieferes Verständnis der inhärenten Eigenschaften und kinetischen Parameter der katalytischen Materialien gewonnen. KW - Wasserspaltung KW - Katalysatoren KW - Keramik KW - Legierungen KW - Materialwissenschaft KW - HER KW - OER KW - water splitting reaction KW - ceramics KW - metal alloys KW - material science KW - HER KW - OER Y1 - 2016 U6 - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:kobv:517-opus4-93296 ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Strauss, Volker A1 - Wang, Huize A1 - Delacroix, Simon A1 - Ledendecker, Marc A1 - Wessig, Pablo T1 - Carbon nanodots revised BT - the thermal citric acid/urea reaction JF - Chemical science N2 - Luminescent compounds obtained from the thermal reaction of citric acid and urea have been studied and utilized in different applications in the past few years. The identified reaction products range from carbon nitrides over graphitic carbon to distinct molecular fluorophores. On the other hand, the solid, non-fluorescent reaction product produced at higher temperatures has been found to be a valuable precursor for the CO2-laser-assisted carbonization reaction in carbon laser-patterning. This work addresses the question of structural identification of both, the fluorescent and non-fluorescent reaction products obtained in the thermal reaction of citric acid and urea. The reaction products produced during autoclave-microwave reactions in the melt were thoroughly investigated as a function of the reaction temperature and the reaction products were subsequently separated by a series of solvent extractions and column chromatography. The evolution of a green molecular fluorophore, namely HPPT, was confirmed and a full characterization study on its structure and photophysical properties was conducted. The additional blue fluorescence is attributed to oligomeric ureas, which was confirmed by complementary optical and structural characterization. These two components form strong hydrogen-bond networks which eventually react to form solid, semi-crystalline particles with a size of similar to 7 nm and an elemental composition of 46% C, 22% N, and 29% O. The structural features and properties of all three main components were investigated in a comprehensive characterization study. Y1 - 2020 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1039/d0sc01605e SN - 2041-6520 SN - 2041-6539 VL - 11 IS - 31 SP - 8256 EP - 8266 PB - Royal Society of Chemistry CY - Cambridge ER -