Enhancing Energy Storage Capacity of 3D Carbon Electrodes Using Soft Landing of Molecular Redox Mediators

The incorporation of redox-active species into the electric double layer is a powerful strategy for enhancing the energy density of supercapacitors. Polyoxometalates (POM) are a class of stable, redox-active species with multielectron activity, which is often used to tailor the properties of electrochemical interfaces. Traditional synthetic methods often result in interfaces containing a mixture of POM anions, unreactive counter ions, and neutral species. This leads to degradation in electrochemical performance due to aggregation and increased interfacial resistance. Another significant challenge is achieving the uniform and stable anchoring of POM anions on substrates to ensure the long-term stability of the electrochemical interface. These challenges are addressed by developing a mass spectrometry-based subambient deposition strategy for the selective deposition of POM anions onto engineered 3D porous carbon electrodes. Furthermore, positively charged functional groups are introduced on the electrode surface for efficient trapping of POM anions. This approach enables the deposition of purified POM anions uniformly through the pores of the 3D porous carbon electrode, resulting in unprecedented increase in the energy storage capacity of the electrodes. The study highlights the critical role of well-defined electrochemical interfaces in energy storage applications and offers a powerful method to achieve this through selective ion deposition.

Controlled Formation of Fused Metal Chalcogenide Nanoclusters Using Soft Landing of Gaseous Fragment Ions

The complete ligation of nanoclusters significantly reduces their chemical reactivity, catalytic activity, and charge transfer properties. Therefore, in applications, nanoclusters are activated through partial ligand removal to take advantage of their full potential. However, the precise control of ligand removal in the condensed phase is challenging. In this study, we examine the reactivity of well-defined activated nanoclusters on surfaces prepared through controlled ligand removal in the gas phase. To accomplish this, we utilized a specially designed ion soft-landing instrument equipped with a collision cell to prepare mass-selected fragment ions, which were then deposited onto self-assembled monolayer (SAM) surfaces. Specifically, we generated fragment ions by selectively removing one or two ligands from a series of atomically precise ligated metal sulfide clusters, Co5MS8(L1)6+ (M = Co, Mn, Fe, or Ni, L1 = PEt3). Removal of one ligand from Co5MS8(L1)6+ (M = Co, Mn, Ni) generates Co5MS8(L1)5+ species, which undergo selective dimerization on SAMs. Meanwhile, Co5FeS8(L1)5+ is unreactive and remains intact when it is deposited onto a SAM surface. In contrast, fragments formed by the removal of two ligands, Co5MS8(L1)4+, undergo several nonselective reactions and generate larger fused clusters. We found that the reactivity of the Co5MS8(L1)5+ fragment ions is correlated with the gas phase stability of the corresponding precursor ion toward ligand loss. Specifically, the relatively unstable precursor ion, Co5FeS8(L1)6+, generates the least reactive fragment. Meanwhile, the more stable precursor ions generate more reactive Co5MS8(L1)5+ fragments that dimerize on surfaces. This observation was also confirmed by co-deposition of fragment ions with two different ligands, Co5MS8(L1)5+ and Co5MS8(L2)5+ (L1 = PEt3 and L2 = PEt2Ph), where fragments generated from more stable precursor ions tend to dimerize and generate dimers with mixed ligands. This study unveils the previously unrecognized potential of fragment ions in generating compounds that are difficult to synthesize using conventional methods. Additionally, it provides a mechanistic understanding of the observed reactivity. Mass-selected deposition of well-defined fragment ions emerges as a powerful approach for designing materials by precisely activating and depositing undercoordinated ligated nanoclusters onto surfaces.

Design and Performance of a Soft-Landing Instrument for Fragment Ion Deposition

We report the development of a new high-flux electrospray ionization-based instrument for soft landing of mass-selected fragment ions onto surfaces. Collision-induced dissociation is performed in a collision cell positioned after the dual electrodynamic ion funnel assembly. The high duty cycle of the instrument enables high-coverage deposition of mass-selected fragment ions onto surfaces at a defined kinetic energy. This capability facilitates the investigation of the reactivity of gaseous fragment ions in the condensed phase. We demonstrate that the observed reactions of deposited fragment ions are dependent on the structure of the ion and the composition of either ionic or neutral species codeposited onto a surface. The newly developed instrument provides access to high-purity ion fragments as building blocks for the preparation of unique ionic layers.