Photocatalytic Approaches to Hydrogen Production from Water

Felix N. Castellano教授，鲍灵格林州立大学化学系和光化学科学中心，由无机、生物无机和有机金属化学项目提供支持，以解决对可再生能源日益增长的需求，并确保全球环境的完整性。这项工作的核心是利用分子催化剂和半导体金属氧化物纳米材料，将地球上的太阳光子和水转化为一种环保的、非碳基可燃化学燃料（氢）。对纳米级系统中导致氢生成的化学步骤的分子水平理解可以广泛应用于水分解反应，其中水被分解成分子氧（O2）和氢（H2）。该项目研究了新型无机结构的产氢能力，这将以广泛的光物理和光化学研究为特征，包括激发态电子转移。这种广泛的基于激光的研究是至关重要的，因为紧随光吸收之后的事件最终决定了激发态化学的命运，从而决定了光化学H2的产生。建议的工作将继续促进本科生和研究生以及博士后和访问科学家的科学和专业教育。预计在这个项目中发展的新的科学见解将有助于为地球建立一个无害环境的未来能源的总体目标。

Professor Felix N. Castellano, Department of Chemistry and Center for Photochemical Sciences, Bowling Green State University, is supported by the Inorganic, Bioinorganic, and Organometallic Chemistry Program to address the growing demand for renewable energy sources and to ensure global environmental integrity. The heart of the work is concerned with converting terrestrial solar photons and water to an environmentally friendly, non-carbon based combustible chemical fuel (hydrogen) using molecular catalysts in conjunction with semiconducting metal oxide nanomaterials. A molecular level understanding of the chemical steps leading to hydrogen production in nanoscopic systems can then be broadly applied to water splitting reactions, where water is broken down into molecular oxygen (O2) and hydrogen (H2). This project investigates the hydrogen-producing capabilities of novel inorganic structures, which will be characterized by extensive photophysical and photochemical studies, including excited state electron transfer. Such extensive laser-based studies are crucial, since the events immediately following light absorption ultimately determine the fate of the excited state chemistry and thus, the photochemical H2 production. The proposed work will continue to foster the scientific and professional education of undergraduate and graduate students as well as postdoctoral associates and visiting scientists. It is anticipated that the new scientific insights developed in this project will contribute to the overarching goal of establishing an environmentally sound energy future for the planet.