title: Early stages of catalyst aging in the iridium mediated water oxidation reaction.
abstract: When exposed to a potential exceeding 1.5 V versus RHE for several minutes the molecular iridium bishydroxide complex bearing a pentamethylcyclopentadienyl and a N-dimethylimidazolin-2-ylidene ligand spontaneously adsorbs onto the surface of glassy carbon and gold electrodes. Simultaneously with the adsorption of the material on the electrode, the evolution of dioxygen is detected and modifications of the catalyst structure are observed. XPS and XAS studies reveal that the species present at the electrode interface is best described as a partly oxidized molecular species rather than the formation of large aggregates of iridium oxide. These findings are in line with the unique kinetic profile of the parent complex in the water oxidation reaction.
authors.affiliation: Leiden Institute of Chemistry, Leiden University, PO Box 9502, 2300 RA Leiden, The Netherlands. d.g.h.hetterscheid@chem.leidenuniv.nl.
authors.forename: Dennis G H
authors.initials: DG
authors.lastname: Hetterscheid
authors.affiliation: Leiden Institute of Chemistry, Leiden University, PO Box 9502, 2300 RA Leiden, The Netherlands. d.g.h.hetterscheid@chem.leidenuniv.nl.
authors.forename: Cornelis J M
authors.initials: CJ
authors.lastname: van der Ham
authors.affiliation: Leiden Institute of Chemistry, Leiden University, PO Box 9502, 2300 RA Leiden, The Netherlands. d.g.h.hetterscheid@chem.leidenuniv.nl.
authors.forename: Oscar
authors.initials: O
authors.lastname: Diaz-Morales
authors.affiliation: Laboratory for Physical Chemistry of Surfaces, Eindhoven University of Technology, Eindhoven, The Netherlands.
authors.forename: M W G M Tiny
authors.initials: MW
authors.lastname: Verhoeven
authors.affiliation: Dutch-Belgian Beamline (DUBBLE), ESRF - The European Synchrotron, CS40220, 38043 Grenoble Cedex 9, France.
authors.forename: Alessandro
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Longo
authors.affiliation: Dutch-Belgian Beamline (DUBBLE), ESRF - The European Synchrotron, CS40220, 38043 Grenoble Cedex 9, France.
authors.forename: Dipanjan
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Banerjee
authors.affiliation: Laboratory for Physical Chemistry of Surfaces, Eindhoven University of Technology, Eindhoven, The Netherlands.
authors.forename: J W Hans
authors.initials: JW
authors.lastname: Niemantsverdriet
authors.affiliation: Van 't Hoff Institute for Molecular Sciences, University of Amsterdam, Amsterdam, The Netherlands.
authors.forename: Joost N H
authors.initials: JN
authors.lastname: Reek
authors.affiliation: Institute for Molecules and Materials, Radboud University, Heyendaalseweg 135, 6525 AJ Nijmegen, The Netherlands.
authors.forename: Martin C
authors.initials: MC
authors.lastname: Feiters