Molecular Models for the Study of Hydrogen Gas Production by Metal Oxides with Covalently-Attached Photosensitizers

Undergraduates: William Howland, Stefanie Sch¿¿nweiz

Faculty Advisor: Carsten Streb
Department: Chemistry

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The continued prosperity of human society is contingent more than anything else upon the development of technologies that provide ample and renewable energy to future generations. Chemists have a particular interest in imitating nature's technique for capturing solar energy and storing it in the form of energy dense fuels: photosynthesis. In pursuit of such technology, a great deal of research is currently directed toward the development of a light-driven system for the production of hydrogen gas from water. This work aims to further understanding of interactions between light-collecting and catalytic components of such a system by synthesizing and characterizing a series of polyoxometalate cores with covalently-attached iridium photosensitizers. Catalytic activity upon irradiation was tested and confirmed for one species. X-ray diffractometry, cyclic voltammetry, and UV-visible spectroscopy were used to probe the geometric and electronic structure of a series of compounds with varying polyometalate composition. The variations were found to have significant effects while maintaining the same overall form, providing a fascinating parameter space for further study.