Study of the Interaction of an Iron Phthalocyanine Complex over Surface Modified Carbon Nanotubes

Abstract

Carbon nanotubes (CNT) were prepared by a modified chemical vapor deposition (CVD) method. The synthesized carbon materials were treated with acidic and basic solutions in order to introduce certain surface functional groups, mainly containing oxygen (OCNT) or amine (ACNT) species. These modified CNTs (OCNT and ACNT) as well as the originally prepared CNT were reacted with a non-ionic Fe complex, Iron (II) Phthalocyanine, and three composites were obtained. The amount of metal complex introduced in each case and the interaction between the complex and the CNT materials were studied with the aid of various characterization techniques such as TGA, XRD, and XPS. The results obtained in these experiments all indicated that the interaction between the complex and the CNT was greatly affected by the functionalization of the latter.

Application of Molecular Catalysts for the Oxygen Reduction Reaction in Alkaline Fuel Cells

“…It is important to note that under these conditions (pH 13), the carboxy group on FeCPc is deprotonated, turning it from a moderate electron-withdrawing group (EWG) to a weakly electron-donating group (EDG). The fact that its withdrawing strength is higher than that of FePc is probably due to stabilization of the negative charge by the carbon support (through π–π interactions), which enables a weak electron withdrawal via inductive and mesomerism effects …”

“…The fact that its withdrawing strength is higher than that of FePc is probably due to stabilization of the negative charge by the carbon support (through π−π interactions), which enables a weak electron withdrawal via inductive and mesomerism effects. 44 In all cases, a maximum amount of MPc was adsorbed on BP2000 from solutions of the MPcs as described in the Experimental Section. The adsorbed amounts are different for each MPc due to different affinities or arrangements on the surface of the BP2000 and were measured using ICP (Table S2).…”