Foundations for Practical Solar Fuel Schemes: Novel Photosensitizer and Catalyst Systems

化学系催化项目的这一奖项支持了卡内基梅隆大学Stefan Bernhard教授的工作。拟议的工作重点是设计将阳光转化为燃料的新型材料。太阳能转换具有巨大的社会利益，因此该项目激励学生获得化学知识并参与化学研究。本科生和研究生一级的教育活动将侧重于可再生能源的主题，而非科学家的外联活动将教育公众了解能源问题，并灌输对科学的普遍兴趣，材料将是过渡金属基的，并将涉及催化燃料产生的每一个步骤，从光吸收到还原燃料生产和补充水氧化。 对于光吸收，将开发各种各样的染料，目标是广泛覆盖太阳光谱和高效活化燃料生成催化剂。将特别注意染料的连接和几何形状，使得它们在光照下是稳健的。 新型催化剂也将被设想为探索先进的结构修改作为推动性能和寿命极限的手段。开发的组件将在制氢催化系统中进行测试，然后这些系统将进一步发展，以在补充水氧化过程中发挥作用。这项工作的最终目标是创建一个能够单独使用阳光将水分解为氢燃料和氧气的分子系统。

This award in the Catalysis program in the Division of Chemistry supports the work of Professor Stefan Bernhard at Carnegie Mellon University. The proposed work focuses on the design of novel materials for the conversion of sunlight into fuels. Solar energy conversion is of great societal interest, so this project inspires students to gain chemical knowledge and to become involved in chemical research. The educational activities at the undergraduate and graduate student level will focus on the theme of renewable energy, while outreach activities for non-scientists will both educate the public on energy issues and instill excitement for science in general.Materials will be transition metal based and will address every step of catalytic fuel generation from light absorption to reductive fuel production and complementary water oxidation. For light absorption, a wide variety of dyes will be developed targeting both broad coverage of the solar spectrum and highly efficient activation of the fuel generating catalyst. Particular attention will be given to the ligation and geometry of the dyes such that they will be robust under illumination. Novel catalysts will also be envisioned exploring advanced modification of the architecture as a means of pushing the limits of performance and lifetime. Developed components will be tested in hydrogen producing catalytic systems and these systems will then be further evolved to function in the presence of the complementary water oxidation processes. It is the ultimate objective of this work to create a molecular system capable of splitting water into hydrogen fuel and oxygen using sunlight alone.