Coordination complexes and polymers as photosensitizers and photocatalysts for solar energy conversion

二氧化碳在地球大气层中的浓度迅速增加，需要立即在许多层面上予以关注：环境、政治、科学和工程。根据世界气象组织的数据，2016年，二氧化碳浓度飙升至创纪录的403.3 ppm，高于2015年的400ppm：这是过去30年来最大的单年增幅！为了对抗这一趋势，避免温室效应失控，我的研究计划旨在将阳光转化为非碳基的化学能，从而消除向我们的大气中增加更多的温室气体。我们将使用过渡金属离子制成的聚合物来捕捉阳光，并将电子转移到钴催化剂上以产生氢气。氢反过来将被用于燃料电池，以消除我们对化石燃料的依赖。*我们在过渡金属化学和光化学领域拥有广泛的专业知识，然而，我们正在通过降解有毒分子来将我们的研究提升到一个新的水平。我们将使用这些有毒化合物作为电子来源，用于光化学生产氢气。例如，石油化工行业对消除二硫化氢非常感兴趣，硫化氢是每年通过石油提取和提纯产生的副产品，以百万吨计。农业和林业还产生大量的生物质废物，如纤维素、木质素和木质纤维素。我们将利用硫化氢和生物质废弃物作为制氢的电子来源。一旦我们完成了实验室规模的科学研究，我们将扩大我们的研究，使用现代高通量技术，如流动反应器，能够将更多的生物质废物和硫化氢转化为氢气，只使用阳光作为这种转化的能源。*四名研究生、一名博士后研究员和一名本科生将进行这项研究，并在一个对加拿大和世界的未来至关重要的领域进行培训。我们还将接待几名来自国际实验室的学生，帮助我们通过从阳光中产生氢气来遏制二氧化碳的产生。*我的研究小组可以在蒙特雷亚尔大学和相关的工程学院--理工学院--获得最先进的设备。每个学生和博士后都将学习各种技能，从标准的提纯和表征技术到更先进的技术，如X射线衍射。他们还将学习先进的计算方法，如密度泛函理论，以便能够在我们在实验室准备目标分子之前计算出它们的性质。因此，参与这一研究计划的人员将受到良好的培训，得到良好的指导，并为替代能源研究和开发方面的就业机会做好充分准备。

The rapidly growing concentration of carbon dioxide, CO2, in the Earth's atmosphere requires immediate attention on many levels: environmental, political, scientific and engineering. In 2016, the concentration of CO2 surged to a record high of 403.3 ppm, up from 400 ppm in 2015, according to the World Meteorological Organization (WMO): the largest single year increase seen in the last 30 years! In order to combat this trend and avoid a run-away greenhouse effect, my research program aims to convert sunlight into chemical energy that is non-carbon based, thus eliminating the addition of more greenhouse gases into our atmosphere. We will use polymers made from transition metal ions to capture sunlight and transfer electrons to Cobalt catalysts to produce hydrogen gas. The hydrogen will in turn be made available for use in fuel cells to eliminate our fossil fuel dependency. ***We have extensive expertise in the areas of transition metal chemistry and photochemistry, however, we are taking our research to the next level by also degrading noxious molecules. We will use these toxic compounds as a source of electrons for the photochemical production of hydrogen. For example, there is much interest in the petrochemical industry to eliminate dihydrogen sulfide, H2S, which is a by-product produced in the millions of tons per year by petroleum extraction and purification. The agriculture and forestry industries also produce immense quantities of biomass waste such as cellulose, lignin and ligno-cellulose. We will use H2S and biomass waste as a source of electrons for hydrogen production. Once we have completed our laboratory scale scientific studies, we will expand our research to use modern high through-put techniques such as flow reactors to be able to convert more biomass waste and H2S into hydrogen using only sunlight as the source of energy for this conversion. ***Four graduate students, one post-doctoral Fellow and one undergraduate will undertake this research and train in an area crucial to the future of Canada and the World. We will also receive several students from international laboratories to help in our efforts to curb the production of CO2 by producing hydrogen from sunlight. ***My research group has access to state-of-the-art equipment available at the Université de Montréal and the associated engineering school, Polytechnique. Each student and post-doctoral Fellow will learn a variety of skills, from standard purification and characterization techniques to more advanced techniques such as X-ray diffraction. They will also learn advanced computational methods such as Density Functional Theory to be able to calculate the properties of our target molecules before we prepare them in the laboratory. Thus, the personnel involved in this research program will be well-trained, well-mentored and perfectly prepared for employment opportunities in alternative energy research and development.