INSITU MOSSBAUER-SPECTROSCOPY AND ELECTROCHEMICAL STUDIES OF THE THERMAL-STABILITY OF IRON PHTHALOCYANINE DISPERSED IN HIGH SURFACE-AREA CARBON

A method employed in the dispersion of iron phthalocyanine (FePc) on high-surface-area carbon involves the suspension of the support particles in a solution containing pyridine (py), resulting in the formation of axially coordinated adducts of FePc with the pyridine. In several recent papers it was reported that the heating of such carbon specimens containing the FePc(py)//2 crystals to a temperature of approximately 300 degree C resulted in the loss of the Moessbauer spectroscopy doublet corresponding to FePc(py)//2 and in the simultaneous appearance of another doublet, which was attributed to FePc bound to the substract. The evidence presented in this communication indicates that such assignment may not be correct.