Dioxygen reduction catalyzed by dicobalt Pacman complexes

The development of fuel cell technologies for automotive use in particular is integral to clean and sustainable energy generation, and relies on catalysts to carry out fundamental chemical redox reactions at the electrodes. At present, the four-electron reduction of dioxygen to water that occurs at the cathode is the most problematic as it is catalysed by expensive Pt metal that requires considerable overpotentials and has limited long-term stability. As such, there is increasing effort to find cheaper and more durable alternatives which requires a fundamental understanding of the mechanism of this reaction.