Catalysis with a spin - controlling electron spin-polarisation through chirality

目标与创新：有机半导体作为一种柔性和可穿戴电子产品的新兴材料类别已被探索，然而，迄今为止，这些材料中电子自旋的控制操作主要被忽视。有机半导体通常由低原子序数(Z)的元素组成，具有非常弱的自旋-轨道耦合，允许自旋极化在更长的时间尺度（bbb10微秒）内保持，为磁传感，信息存储，低功耗电子和光催化提供了前所未有的机会。手性分子在磁场作用下对氧化还原过程具有较高的自旋选择性，其电子输运依赖于电子的自旋取向。这种性质对于电化学反应具有重要意义，并且可以通过使用手性体系作为自旋过滤器来控制电子途径。通过自旋选择控制化学动力学可以在控制氧化还原过程中产生非凡的影响，并且与传统的电化学反应速率控制方法有很大的不同。该项目旨在研究自旋对手性杂化光催化纳米结构中光生载流子转移和重组的影响，以防止形成不希望的副反应，例如光催化水分解反应中过氧化氢的形成。影响：该项目的跨学科特性弥合了好奇心驱动的基础研究和新型有机自旋选择性光催化剂之间的差距，并将有助于英国实现净零碳经济的长期目标。此外，拟议的研究与EPSRC的“制造未来”、“能源”和“光-物质相互作用”主题一致，并涵盖了软物质研究的基本方面，这是EPSRC的增长领域之一。研究领域扩展：该项目将为开发超快实验方法和相关数据分析提供机会，用于新型有机材料和高度热门应用，以展示超快技术在全新科学界的潜力，为工业以及其他部门（如化学工程）提供新的泵主要资助机会。

Aim & Novelty: Organic semiconductors have been explored as an emerging material class for flexible and wearable electronics, however the controlled manipulation of electronic spin in these materials has mainly been disregarded to date. Organic semiconductors, typically composed of elements with low atomic numbers (Z), possess very weak spin-orbit coupling which allows for spin polarisation to be maintained over longer time scales (>10 microsecond), offering unprecedented opportunities for magnetic sensing, information storage, low power electronics and photocatalysis. Chiral molecules possess high spin selectivity for redox processes under a magnetic field and their electronic transport depends on the spin orientation of the electrons. This property can be of paramount significance for electrochemical reactions and can provide control over the electron pathway by using a chiral system to act as a spin filter. The control of chemical kinetics through spin selection could have extraordinary consequences in controlling redox processes and presents a radical departure from traditional methods of electrochemical reaction rate control. This project aims to examine the effect of the spin on the photogenerated charge carriers' transfer and recombination in chiral hybrid photocatalytic nanostructures to prevent for example the formation of undesired side reactions, such as hydrogen peroxide formation during the photocatalytic water splitting reaction. Impact: The interdisciplinary character of the project bridges the gap between fundamental curiosity-driven research and new organic spin-selective photocatalysts, and will contribute to the UK's long-term target of a net-zero carbon economy. Furthermore, the proposed research aligns with EPSRC's "Manufacturing the Future", "Energy" and "Light-Matter Interaction" themes, as well as covering fundamental aspects of soft-matter research, one of the EPSRC's growth areas. Research area expansion: The project will provide the opportunity to develop both ultrafast experimental methods and associated data analysis for a new class of organic materials and highly topical applications to demonstrate the potential of ultrafast techniques to a whole new scientific community, opening new pump-prime funding opportunities with industry as well as with other departments (i.e. Chemical Engineering).