Origin of Low CO2 Selectivity on Platinum in the Direct Ethanol Fuel Cell

Calculated answer: First-principles calculations have been applied to calculate the energy barrier for the key step in CO formation on a Pt surface (see picture; Pt blue, Pt atoms on step edge yellow) to understand the low CO2 selectivity in the direct ethanol fuel cell. The presence of surface oxidant species such as O (brown bar) and OH (red bar) led to an increase of the energy barrier and thus an inhibition of the key step. © 2012 Wiley-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim

Imitating micelles as a way to control coordination self-assembly: cage-polymer switching directed rationally by solvent polarity or pH

Disguising a metal complex as a micelle by using amphiphilic phosphine ligands enables it to switch between a coordination polymer and a discrete cage in response to solvent polarity or pH; this medium-dependent behaviour of the complex is rational because it parallels that of true micelles.