Here we propose a new concept of"molecule aging":with some special treatment,a molecule could be"aged"by losing some unknown tiny particles or pieces from atoms in the molecule.Such"aging"or loss of unknown tiny particles does not change apparently its molecular structure or chemical composition,but some physicochemical properties could be changed irreversibly.We further confirm such"molecule aging"via a long-term electron attacking to age water(H2O)molecules.The IR spectra show no structural difference between the fresh water and the aged one,while the NMR spectra show that the electron attacking can decrease the size of water clusters.Such facts indicate that the electron attacking indeed can"affect"the structure of water molecule slightly but without damaging to its basic molecule frame.Further exploration reveals that the hydrogen evolution reaction(HER)activity of the aged water mole-cule is lower than the fresh water on the same Pt/C electrocatalyst.The density functional theory calcu-lations indicate that the shortened O-H bond in H2O indeed can present lower HER activity,so the observed size decrease of water clusters from NMR probably could be attributed to the shortening of O-H bond in water molecules.Such results indicate significantly that the molecule aging can produce materials with new functions for new possible applications.
Aging of moleculesElectron attackingFull width at half maximaHydrogen evolution reaction
State Key Laboratory of Electroanalytical Chemistry and Jilin Province Key Laboratory of Low Carbon Chemical Power,Changchun Institute of Applied Chemistry,Chinese Academy of Sciences,Changchun 130022,Jilin,China
School of Applied Chemistry and Engineering,University of Science and Technology of China,Hefei 230026,Anhui,China
Shanghai Key Laboratory of Molecular Catalysis and Innovative Materials,Collaborative Innovation Center of Chemistry for Energy Materials,Department of Chemistry,Fudan University,Shanghai 200438,China
Key Research and Development Program sponsored by the Ministry of Science and Technology(MOST)National Natural Science Foundation of ChinaNational Natural Science Foundation of ChinaNational Natural Science Foundation of ChinaNational Natural Science Foundation of ChinaNational Natural Science Foundation of China
NETL
NSTL
万方数据
