Fluorophore Metal-Organic Complexes: High-Throughput Optical Screening for Aprotic Electrochemical Systems.

Combinatorial optical screening of aprotic electrocatalysts has not yet been achieved primarily due to H-associated mechanisms of fluorophore modulation. We have overcome this problem by using fluorophore metal-organic complexes. In particular, eosin Y and quinine can be coordinated with various metallic cations (e.g., Li, Na, Mg, Zn, and Al) in aprotic solvents, triggering changes in their fluorescent properties. These interactions have been used in a reliable screening method to determine oxygen reduction/evolution reaction activities of 100 Mn-based binary catalysts for the aprotic Li-air battery.