Molecule aging induced by electron attacking

Abstract

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 molecule is lower than the fresh water on the same Pt/C electrocatalyst. The density functional theory calculations 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.