Solar Driven Water Oxidation by a Bioinspired Manganese Molecular Catalyst

Discovery of Open Cubane Core Structures for Biomimetic LnCo3 (OR)4 Water Oxidation Catalysts

Bio-mimetic catalysts such as LnCo₃ (OR)₄ (Ln=Er, Tm; OR=alkoxide) cubanes have recently been in the focus of research for artificial water oxidation processes. Previously, the remarkable adaptability with respect to ligand shell, nuclear structure as well as protonation and oxidation states of those catalysts has been shown to be beneficial for the water oxidation process. We further explored the structural flexibility of those catalysts and present here a series of novel structures in which one metal center is pulled out of the cubane cage. This leads to an open cubane core, which is to some extent reminiscent of observed open/closed cubane-core forms of the oxygen-evolving complex in nature's photosystem II. We investigate how those open cubane core models alter the thermodynamics of the water oxidation cycle and how different solvation approaches influence their stability.

Improvement of Electrochemical Water Oxidation by Fine-Tuning the Structure of Tetradentate N4 Ligands of Molecular Copper Catalysts

Two copper complexes, [(L1)Cu(OH₂ )](BF₄ )₂ [1; L1=N,N'-dimethyl-N,N'-bis(pyridin-2-ylmethyl)-1,2-diaminoethane] and [(L2)Cu(OH₂ )](BF₄ )₂ [2, L2=2,7-bis(2-pyridyl)-3,6-diaza-2,6-octadiene], were prepared as molecular water oxidation catalysts. Complex 1 displayed an overpotential (η) of 1.07 V at 1 mA cm^-2 and an observed rate constant (k_obs ) of 13.5 s^-1 at η 1.0 V in pH 9.0 phosphate buffer solution, whereas 2 exhibited a significantly smaller η (0.70 V) to reach 1 mA cm^-2 and a higher k_obs (50.4 s^-1 ) than 1 under identical test conditions. Additionally, 2 displayed better stability than 1 in controlled potential electrolysis experiments with a faradaic efficiency of 94 % for O₂ evolution at 1.58 V, when a casing tube was used for the Pt cathode. A possible mechanism for 1- and 2-catalyzed O₂ evolution reactions is discussed based on the experimental evidence. These comparative results indicate that fine-tuning the structures of tetradentate N₄ ligands can bring about significant change in the performance of copper complexes for electrochemical water oxidation.

From Enzymes to Functional Materials-Towards Activation of Small Molecules

The design of non-noble metal-containing heterogeneous catalysts for the activation of small molecules is of utmost importance for our society. While nature possesses very sophisticated machineries to perform such conversions, rationally designed catalytic materials are rare. Herein, we aim to raise the awareness of the overall common design and working principles of catalysts incorporating aspects of biology, chemistry, and material sciences.

Aqueous Photocurrent Measurements Correlated to Ultrafast Electron Transfer Dynamics at Ruthenium Tris Diimine-Sensitized NiO Photocathodes

Understanding the structural and electronic factors governing the efficiency of dye-sensitized NiO photocathodes is essential to optimize solar fuel production in photoelectrochemical cells (PECs). For these purpose, three different ruthenium dyes, bearing either two or four methylphosphonate anchoring groups and either a bipyridine or a dipyridophenazine ancillary ligand, were synthesized and grafted onto NiO films. These photoelectrodes were fully characterized by XPS, ToF-SIMS, UV-vis absorption, time-resolved emission and femtosecond transient absorption spectroscopies. Increasing the number of anchoring groups from two to four proved beneficial for the grafting efficiency. No significant modification of the electronic properties compared to the parent photosensitizer was observed, in accordance with the non-conjugated nature of the grafted linker. The photoelectrochemical activity of the dye-sensitized NiO electrodes was assessed in fully aqueous medium in the presence of an irreversible electron acceptor and photocurrents reaching 190 μA.cm^-2 were recorded. The transient absorption study revealed the presence of two charge recombination pathways for each of the sensitizers and evidenced a stabilized charge separated state in the dppz derivative, supporting its superior photoelectrochemical activity.

Mechanism of Water Oxidation Catalyzed by a Mononuclear Manganese Complex

The design and synthesis of biomimetic Mn complexes to catalyze oxygen evolution is a very appealing goal because water oxidation in nature employs a Mn complex. Recently, the mononuclear Mn complex [LMn^II (H₂ O)₂ ]²⁺ [1, L=Py₂ N(tBu)₂ , Py=pyridyl] was reported to catalyze water oxidation electrochemically at an applied potential of 1.23 V at pH 12.2 in aqueous solution. Density functional calculations were performed to elucidate the mechanism of water oxidation promoted by this catalyst. The calculations showed that 1 can lose two protons and one electron readily to produce [LMn^III (OH)₂ ]⁺ (2), which then undergoes two sequential proton-coupled electron-transfer processes to afford [LMn^V OO]⁺ (4). The O-O bond formation can occur through direct coupling of the two oxido ligands or through nucleophilic attack of water. These two mechanisms have similar barriers of approximately 17 kcal mol^-1 . The further oxidation of 4 to generate [LMn^VI OO]²⁺ (5), which enables O-O bond formation, has a much higher barrier. In addition, ligand degradation by C-H activation has a similar barrier to that for the O-O bond formation, and this explains the relatively low turnover number of this catalyst.

A DFT/B3LYP study of the mechanisms of the O2 formation reaction catalyzed by the [(terpy)(H2O)MnIII(O)2MnIV(OH2)(terpy)](NO3)3 complex: A paradigm for photosystem II

We present a theoretical study of the reaction pathway for dioxygen molecular formation catalyzed by the [(terpy)(H₂O)Mn^III(O)₂Mn^IV(OH₂) (terpy)](NO₃)₃ (terpy=2,2':6',2″-terpyridine) complex based on DFT-B3LYP calculations. In the initial state of the reaction, a partial oxido radical (0.44 spins) is formed ligated to Mn. This radical is involved in a nucleophylic attack by bulk water in the OO bond reaction formation step, in which the oxido fractional unpaired electron is delocalized toward the outermost Mn of the μ-oxo bridge, instead of the ligated Mn center. The reaction then follows with a series of proton-coupled electron transfer steps, in which the oxidation state, as well as the bond strength of the OO moiety increase, while the OOMn(1) bond gets weaker until O₂ is released. In this model, basic acetate ions from the buffer solution capture protons in the proton-transfer steps. In each step there is reduction of the OOMn(1) binding strength, with concomitant increase of the OO bond strength, which culminates with the release of O₂ in the last step. This last step is entropy driven, while formation of hydroperoxide and superoxide moieties is enthalpy driven. According with experiments, the rate-limiting step is the double oxidation of Mn(IV,III) or peroxymonosulfate binding, which occur prior to the OO bond formation step. This supports our findings that the barriers of all intermediate steps are below the experimental barrier of 19-21kcal/mol. The implications of these findings for understanding photosynthetic water-splitting catalysis are also discussed.

Electrochemical Formation of FeV (O) and Mechanism of Its Reaction with Water During O-O Bond Formation

A detailed electrochemical investigation of a series of iron complexes (biuret-modified tetraamido iron macrocycles Fe^III -bTAML), including the first electrochemical generation of Fe^V (O), and demonstration of their efficacy as homogeneous catalysts for electrochemical water oxidation (WO) in aqueous medium are reported. Spectroelectrochemical and mass spectral studies indicated Fe^V (O) as the active oxidant, formed due to two redox transitions, which were assigned as Fe^IV (O)/Fe^III (OH₂ ) and Fe^V (O)/Fe^IV (O). The spectral properties of both of these high-valent iron oxo species perfectly match those of their chemically synthesised versions, which were thoroughly characterised by several spectroscopic techniques. The O-O bond-formation step occurs by nucleophilic attack of H₂ O on Fe^V (O). A kinetic isotope effect of 3.2 indicates an atom-proton transfer (APT) mechanism. The reaction of chemically synthesised Fe^V (O) in CH₃ CN and water was directly probed by electrochemistry and was found to be first-order in water. The pK_a value of the buffer base plays a critical role in the rate-determining step by increasing the reaction rate several-fold. The electronic effect on redox potential, WO rates, and onset overpotential was studied by employing a series of iron complexes. The catalytic activity was enhanced by the presence of electron-withdrawing groups on the bTAML framework. Changing the substituents from OMe to NO₂ resulted in an eightfold increase in reaction rate, while the overpotential increased threefold.

Sensitizers for Aqueous-Based Solar Cells

Aqueous dye-sensitized solar cells (DSSCs) are attractive due to their sustainability, the use of water as a safe solvent for the redox mediators, and their possible applications in photoelectrochemical water splitting. However, the higher tendency of dye leaching by water and the lower wettability of dye molecules are two major obstacles that need to be tackled for future applications of aqueous DSSCs. Sensitizers designed for aqueous DSSCs are discussed based on their functions, such as modification of the molecular skeleton and the anchoring group for better stability against dye leaching by water, and the incorporation of hydrophilic entities into the dye molecule or the addition of a surfactant to the system to increase the wettability of the dye for more facile dye regeneration. Surface treatment of the photoanode to deter dye leaching or improve the wettability of the dye molecule is also discussed. Redox mediators designed for aqueous DSSCs are also discussed. The review also includes quantum-dot-sensitized solar cells, with a focus on improvements in QD loading and suppression of interfacial charge recombination at the photoanode.

Top-down fabrication of fluorine-doped tin oxide nanopillar substrates for solar water splitting

Nanopillar fluorine-doped tin oxide (FTO) substrates fabricated by nanosphere lithography and argon milling enhance the photoelectrochemical performance of WO₃ photoanodes.

Rates of Water Exchange in 2,2′-Bipyridine and 1,10-Phenanthroline Complexes of CoII and MnII

The rates and activation parameters of water exchange at pH 3.0 have been determined using variable temperature 17O NMR spectroscopy for four CoII complexes and one MnII complex: [Co(bpy)(H2O)4]2+, [Co(bpy)2 (H2O)2]2+, [Co(phen)-(H2O)4]2+, [Co(phen)2 (H2O)2]2+, and [Mn(bpy)(H2O)4]2+ (bpy = 2,2′-bipyridyl and phen = 1,10-phenanthroline). Substitution of aquo ligands with 1,10-phenanthroline or 2,2′-bipyridyl leads to an increase in the rate of exchange in the manganese complexes, from k298 (1.8 ± 0.1) × 107 s−1 for [Mn(H2O)6]2+ to (7.2 ± 0.3) × 107 s−1 for [Mn(phen)2 (H2O)2]2+, whereas the trends are more complex for the cobalt complexes. We have used the new data in conjunction with literature data for similar complexes to analyse the effect of M–OH2 distance and degree of substitution.

Highly stable chemisorption of dyes with pyridyl anchors over TiO2: application in dye-sensitized photoelectrochemical water reduction in aqueous media

The “pyridyl anchoring technique” enables constant photocurrent density in a water reduction dye-sensitized photoelectrochemical cell with a polypyridyl ruthenium sensitizer having pyridyl anchors (Ru-py).

Finding the Way to Solar Fuels with Dye-Sensitized Photoelectrosynthesis Cells

The dye-sensitized photoelectrosynthesis cell (DSPEC) integrates high bandgap, nanoparticle oxide semiconductors with the light-absorbing and catalytic properties of designed chromophore-catalyst assemblies. The goals are photoelectrochemical water splitting into hydrogen and oxygen and reduction of CO₂ by water to give oxygen and carbon-based fuels. Solar-driven water oxidation occurs at a photoanode and water or CO₂ reduction at a cathode or photocathode initiated by molecular-level light absorption. Light absorption is followed by electron or hole injection, catalyst activation, and catalytic water oxidation or water/CO₂ reduction. The DSPEC is of recent origin but significant progress has been made. It has the potential to play an important role in our energy future.

Challenges and opportunities for hydrogen production from microalgae

The global population is predicted to increase from ~7.3 billion to over 9 billion people by 2050. Together with rising economic growth, this is forecast to result in a 50% increase in fuel demand, which will have to be met while reducing carbon dioxide (CO2 ) emissions by 50-80% to maintain social, political, energy and climate security. This tension between rising fuel demand and the requirement for rapid global decarbonization highlights the need to fast-track the coordinated development and deployment of efficient cost-effective renewable technologies for the production of CO2 neutral energy. Currently, only 20% of global energy is provided as electricity, while 80% is provided as fuel. Hydrogen (H2 ) is the most advanced CO2 -free fuel and provides a 'common' energy currency as it can be produced via a range of renewable technologies, including photovoltaic (PV), wind, wave and biological systems such as microalgae, to power the next generation of H2 fuel cells. Microalgae production systems for carbon-based fuel (oil and ethanol) are now at the demonstration scale. This review focuses on evaluating the potential of microalgal technologies for the commercial production of solar-driven H2 from water. It summarizes key global technology drivers, the potential and theoretical limits of microalgal H2 production systems, emerging strategies to engineer next-generation systems and how these fit into an evolving H2 economy.

Visible-Light-Driven Water Oxidation by a Molecular Manganese Vanadium Oxide Cluster

Photosynthetic water oxidation in plants occurs at an inorganic calcium manganese oxo cluster, which is known as the oxygen evolving complex (OEC), in photosystem II. Herein, we report a synthetic OEC model based on a molecular manganese vanadium oxide cluster, [Mn4 V4 O17 (OAc)3 ](3-) . The compound is based on a [Mn4 O4 ](6+) cubane core, which catalyzes the homogeneous, visible-light-driven oxidation of water to molecular oxygen and is stabilized by a tripodal [V4 O13 ](6-) polyoxovanadate and three acetate ligands. When combined with the photosensitizer [Ru(bpy)3 ](2+) and the oxidant persulfate, visible-light-driven water oxidation with turnover numbers of approximately 1150 and turnover frequencies of about 1.75 s(-1) is observed. Electrochemical, mass-spectrometric, and spectroscopic studies provide insight into the cluster stability and reactivity. This compound could serve as a model for the molecular structure and reactivity of the OEC and for heterogeneous metal oxide water-oxidation catalysts.

Precious-metal free photoelectrochemical water splitting with immobilised molecular Ni and Fe redox catalysts

Splitting water into hydrogen and oxygen with 3d transition metal molecular catalysts and light has been accomplished.

Splitting water into hydrogen and oxygen with molecular catalysts and light has been a long-established challenge. Approaches in homogeneous systems have been met with little success and the integration of molecular catalysts in photoelectrochemical cells is challenging due to inaccessibility and incompatibility of functional hybrid molecule/material electrodes with long-term stability in aqueous solution. Here, we present the first example of light-driven water splitting achieved with precious-metal-free molecular catalysts driving both oxygen and hydrogen evolution reactions. Mesoporous TiO₂ was employed as a low-cost scaffold with long-term stability for anchoring a phosphonic acid-modified nickel(ii) bis-diphosphine catalyst (NiP) for electrocatalytic proton reduction. A turnover number of 600 mol H₂ per mol NiP was achieved after 8 h controlled-potential electrolysis at a modest overpotential of 250 mV. X-ray photoelectron, UV-vis and IR spectroscopies confirmed that the molecular structure of the Ni catalyst remains intact after prolonged hydrogen production, thereby reasserting the suitability of molecular catalysts in the development of effective, hydrogen-evolving materials. The relatively mild operating conditions of a pH 3 aqueous solution allowed this molecule-catalysed cathode to be combined with a molecular Fe(ii) catalyst-modified WO₃ photoanode in a photoelectrochemical cell. Water splitting into H₂ and O₂ was achieved under solar light illumination with an applied bias of >0.6 V, which is below the thermodynamic potential (1.23 V) for water splitting and therefore allowed the storage of solar energy in the fuel H₂.

Ultrafine Cobalt Catalysts on Covalent Carbon Nitride Frameworks for Oxygenic Photosynthesis

The rational cooperation of sustainable catalysts with suitable light-harvesting semiconductors to fabricate photosynthetic device/machinery has been regarded as an ideal technique to alleviate the current worldwide energy and environmental issues. Cobalt based species (e.g., Co-Pi, Co3O4, and Co-cubene) have attracted particular attentions because they are earth-abundant, cost-acceptable, and more importantly, it shows comparable water oxidation activities to the noble metal based catalysts (e.g., RuO2, IrO2). In this contribution, we compared two general cocatalysts modification strategies, based on the surface depositing and bulk doping of ultrafine cobalt species into the sustainable graphitic carbon nitride (g-C3N4) polymer networks for oxygenic photosynthesis by splitting water into oxygen, electrons, and protons. The chemical backbone of g-C3N4 does not alter after both engineering modifications; however, in comparison with the bulk doping, the optical and electronic properties of the surface depositing samples are efficiently promoted, and the photocatalytic water oxidation activities are increased owing to much more exposed active sites, reduced overpotential for oxygen evolution and the accelerated interface charge mobility. This paper underlines the advantage of surface engineering to establish efficient advanced polymeric composites for water oxidation, and it opens new insights into the architectural design of binary hybrid photocatalysts with high reactivity and further utilizations in the fields of energy and environment.

Manganese Compounds as Water-Oxidizing Catalysts: From the Natural Water-Oxidizing Complex to Nanosized Manganese Oxide Structures

All cyanobacteria, algae, and plants use a similar water-oxidizing catalyst for water oxidation. This catalyst is housed in Photosystem II, a membrane-protein complex that functions as a light-driven water oxidase in oxygenic photosynthesis. Water oxidation is also an important reaction in artificial photosynthesis because it has the potential to provide cheap electrons from water for hydrogen production or for the reduction of carbon dioxide on an industrial scale. The water-oxidizing complex of Photosystem II is a Mn-Ca cluster that oxidizes water with a low overpotential and high turnover frequency number of up to 25-90 molecules of O2 released per second. In this Review, we discuss the atomic structure of the Mn-Ca cluster of the Photosystem II water-oxidizing complex from the viewpoint that the underlying mechanism can be informative when designing artificial water-oxidizing catalysts. This is followed by consideration of functional Mn-based model complexes for water oxidation and the issue of Mn complexes decomposing to Mn oxide. We then provide a detailed assessment of the chemistry of Mn oxides by considering how their bulk and nanoscale properties contribute to their effectiveness as water-oxidizing catalysts.

H2 Photogeneration Using a Phosphonate-Anchored Ni-PNP Catalyst on a Band-Edge-Modified p-Si(111)|AZO Construct

We report the fabrication of a {semiconductor}|{metal oxide}|{molecular catalyst} construct for the photogeneration of dihydrogen (H2) under illumination, including band-edge modulation of the semiconductor electrode depending on the identity of Si(111)-R and the metal oxide. Briefly, a synergistic band-edge modulation is observed upon (i) the introduction of a p-Si|n-AZO heterojunction and (ii) introduction of an organic dimethoxyphenyl (diMeOPh) group at the heterojunction interface; the AZO also serves as a transparent and conductive conduit, which was capped with an ultrathin layer (20 Å) of amorphous TiO2 for stability. A phosphonate-appended PNP ligand and its Ni complex were then adsorbed to the p/n heterojunction for photoelectrochemical H2 generation (figures of merit: Vonset ≈ + 0.03 V vs NHE, Jmax ≈ 8 mA cm(-2) at 60 mM TsOH).

Generation of Hydrogen by Visible Light-Induced Water Splitting with the Use of Semiconductors and Dyes

Photosynthesis that occurs in plants involves both the oxidation of water and the reduction of carbon dioxide. Plants carry out these reactions with ease, by involving electron-transport chains. In this article, hydrogen generation by the reduction of water in the laboratory by using semiconductor nanostructures through artificial photosynthesis is examined. Dye-sensitized photochemical generation of hydrogen from water is also discussed. Hydrogen generation by these means has great technological relevance, since it is an environmentally friendly fuel. The way in which oxygen can be generated by the oxidation of water using metal oxide catalysts is also shown.