Solar Hydrogen Generation Using Supramolecular Photocatalysts

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This award is funded under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (Public Law 111-5). The Inorganic, Bioinorganic, and Organometallic Chemistry Program supports the efforts of Professors Frederick M. MacDonnell and Norma S. Tacconi of the University of Texas at Arlington for the investigation of an integrated approach towards the design, testing and detailed mechanistic analysis of supramolecular photocatalysts (SPCs) for solar hydrogen production. The SPCs are assemblies of chromophores/photosensitizers, bridging acceptor ligands designed to act as the site of temporary electron storage, and hydrogen-evolving platinum co-catalysts. Promising photocatalysts are examined in detail to determine the speciation, ground and excited state properties, and mechanisms of action. Mechanistic details address several fundamental scientific questions regarding sequential vs. concerted proton-coupled electron transfer (PCET) reactions. This research may enable the development of molecular photocatalysts that will use solar energy to form hydrogen, ideally from water. Graduate and undergraduate students involved in the project receive a broad training in the synthesis of inorganic complexes, photochemistry, theory, catalysis and time- and frequency-resolved spectroscopy.