Open AccessThe Transformation and Storage of Solar Energy: Progress Towards Visible-Light Induced Water Splitting
Author(s) -
Eric D. Cline,
Stefan Bernhard
Publication year - 2009
Publication title -
chimia
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.387
H-Index - 55
eISSN - 2673-2424
pISSN - 0009-4293
DOI - 10.2533/chimia.2009.709
Subject(s) - iridium , catalysis , photocatalysis , renewable energy , rhodium , visible spectrum , redox , water splitting , electrochemistry , photochemistry , chemical energy , ligand (biochemistry) , artificial photosynthesis , energy transformation , chemistry , platinum , materials science , solar energy , nanotechnology , inorganic chemistry , optoelectronics , physics , organic chemistry , ecology , biochemistry , receptor , electrode , biology , electrical engineering , thermodynamics , engineering
The sun is a plentiful source of clean, renewable power, and the direct conversion of solar to chemical energy is a desirable goal. The collective efforts of the Bernhard group to develop molecular catalytic systems for visible-light water splitting are reviewed. Combinatorial synthesis and high-throughput screening techniques enabled the development of a series of photosensitizers with a wide range of photophysical and electrochemical properties. Parallel evaluation of the iridium(III) photosensitizers in photocatalytic water reduction systems utilizing cobalt-, platinum-, or rhodium-based water reduction catalysts resulted in systems that exhibited more than 5000 turnovers with quantum yields of 34% and turnover frequencies of 500 hr?1. For the complementary water oxidation system, the catalysts based on cyclometallated iridium complexes are robust and tunable, which allows for the rapid study of water oxidation reactions through targeted ligand modification.