The Catalytic Activity of Magnetic Surfaces

Abstract

High-performance catalysts for the oxygen reduction and hydrogen evolution reactions (ORR and HER, respectively) are highly sought-after, particularly with the commitment of numerous agencies to the removal of conventional gas vehicles in the next few decades. Surprisingly little focus has been placed on the development of magnetic models to describe these systems. The current work will review the current understanding of surface heterogeneous catalysis across select magnetic surfaces, with attention focused on studies involving extended surfaces, which inherently are more accessible to fundamental analysis than the more applied nanoparticle systems. However, even the most up-to-date magnetic variants of this theory have focused on the tight binding limit of the d-band model. In this limit, the reactivity of the surface is governed by the position of the center of the d-band, and the model does not account for the higher moments of the d-band, such as the width, asymmetry, and modality. A summary of the theory supporting this analysis will be presented, along with a summary of the current literature on this level of analysis. The review will then conclude with a discussion of suggested directions for future investigations.