Switching from Ru to Fe: picosecond IR spectroscopic investigation of the potential of the (fulvalene)tetracarbonyldiiron frame for molecular solar-thermal storage

Azobenzene-Based Solar Thermal Fuels: A Review

The energy storage mechanism of azobenzene is based on the transformation of molecular cis and trans isomerization, while NBD/QC, DHA/VHF, and fulvalene dimetal complexes realize the energy storage function by changing the molecular structure. Acting as "molecular batteries," they can exhibit excellent charging and discharging behavior by converting between trans and cis isomers or changing molecular structure upon absorption of ultraviolet light. Key properties determining the performance of STFs are stored energy, energy density, half-life, and solar energy conversion efficiency. This review is aiming to provide a comprehensive and authoritative overview on the recent advancements of azobenzene molecular photoswitch system in STFs fields, including derivatives and carbon nano-templates, which is emphasized for its attractive performance. Although the energy storage performance of Azo-STFs has already reached the level of commercial lithium batteries, the cycling capability and controllable release of energy still need to be further explored. For this, some potential solutions to the cycle performance are proposed, and the methods of azobenzene controllable energy release are summarized. Moreover, energy stored by STFs can be released in the form of mechanical energy, which in turn can also promote the release of thermal energy from STFs, implying that there could be a relationship between mechanical and thermal energy in Azo-STFs, providing a potential direction for further research on Azo-STFs.

Azobenzene-based solar thermal fuels: design, properties, and applications

Development of renewable energy technologies has been a significant area of research amongst scientists with the aim of attaining a sustainable world society. Solar thermal fuels that can capture, convert, store, and release solar energy in the form of heat through reversible photoisomerization of molecular photoswitches such as azobenzene derivatives are currently in the limelight of research. Herein, we provide a state-of-the-art account on the recent advancements in solar thermal fuels based on azobenzene photoswitches. We begin with an overview on the importance of azobenzene-based solar thermal fuels and their fundamentals. Then, we highlight the recent advances in diverse azobenzene materials for solar thermal fuels such as pure azobenzene derivatives, nanocarbon-templated azobenzene, and polymer-templated azobenzene. The basic design concepts of these advanced solar energy storage materials are discussed, and their promising applications are highlighted. We then introduce the recent endeavors in the molecular design of azobenzene derivatives toward efficient solar thermal fuels, and conclude with new perspectives on the future scope, opportunities and challenges. It is expected that continuous pioneering research involving scientists and engineers from diverse technological backgrounds could trigger the rapid advancement of this important interdisciplinary field, which embraces chemistry, physics, engineering, nanoscience, nanotechnology, materials science, polymer science, etc.

Tuning the photochemical properties of the fulvalene-tetracarbonyl-diruthenium system

In a Molecular Solar–Thermal Energy Storage (MOST) system, solar energy is converted to chemical energy using a compound that undergoes reversible endothermic photoisomerization.

Accelerating the design of solar thermal fuel materials through high throughput simulations

Solar thermal fuels (STF) store the energy of sunlight, which can then be released later in the form of heat, offering an emission-free and renewable solution for both solar energy conversion and storage. However, this approach is currently limited by the lack of low-cost materials with high energy density and high stability. In this Letter, we present an ab initio high-throughput computational approach to accelerate the design process and allow for searches over a broad class of materials. The high-throughput screening platform we have developed can run through large numbers of molecules composed of earth-abundant elements and identifies possible metastable structures of a given material. Corresponding isomerization enthalpies associated with the metastable structures are then computed. Using this high-throughput simulation approach, we have discovered molecular structures with high isomerization enthalpies that have the potential to be new candidates for high-energy density STF. We have also discovered physical principles to guide further STF materials design through structural analysis. More broadly, our results illustrate the potential of using high-throughput ab initio simulations to design materials that undergo targeted structural transitions.

Ultrafast infrared studies of the role of spin states in organometallic reaction dynamics

The importance of spin state changes in organometallic reactions is a topic of significant interest, as an increasing number of reaction mechanisms involving changes of spin state are consistently being uncovered. The potential influence of spin state changes on reaction rates can be difficult to predict, and thus this class of reactions remains among the least well understood in organometallic chemistry. Ultrafast time-resolved infrared (TRIR) spectroscopy provides a powerful tool for probing the dynamics of spin state changes in organometallic catalysis, as such processes often occur on the picosecond to nanosecond time scale and can readily be monitored in the infrared via the absorptions of carbonyl reporter ligands. In this Account, we summarize recent work from our group directed toward identifying trends in reactivity that can be used to offer predictive insight into the dynamics of coordinatively unsaturated organometallic reaction intermediates. In general, coordinatively unsaturated 16-electron (16e) singlets are able to coordinate to solvent molecules as token ligands to partially stabilize the coordinatively unsaturated metal center, whereas 16e triplets and 17-electron (17e) doublets are not, allowing them to diffuse more rapidly through solution than their singlet counterparts. Triplet complexes typically (but not always) undergo spin crossover prior to solvent coordination, whereas 17e doublets do not coordinate solvent molecules as token ligands and cannot relax to a lower spin state to do so. 16e triplets are typically able to undergo facile spin crossover to yield a 16e singlet where an associative, exothermic reaction pathway exists. The combination of facile spin crossover with faster diffusion through solution for triplets can actually lead to faster catalytic reactivity than for singlets, despite the forbidden nature of these reactions. We summarize studies on odd-electron complexes in which 17e doublets were found to display varying behavior with regard to their tendency to react with 2-electron donor ligands to form 19-electron (19e) adducts. The ability of 19e adducts to serve as reducing agents in disproportionation reactions depends on whether the excess electron density localized at the metal center or at a ligand site. The reactivity of both 16e and 17e complexes toward a widely used organic nitroxyl radical (TEMPO) are reviewed, and both classes of complexes generally react similarly via an associative mechanism with a low barrier to these reactions. We also describe recent work targeted at unraveling the photoisomerization mechanism of a thermal-solar energy storage complex in which spin state changes were found to play a crucial role. Although a key triplet intermediate was found to be required for this photoisomerization mechanism to proceed, the details of why this triplet is formed in some complexes (those based on ruthenium) and not others (those based on iron, molybdenum, or tungsten) remains uncertain, and further exploration in this area may lead to a better understanding of the factors that influence intramolecular and excited state spin state changes.

Templated assembly of photoswitches significantly increases the energy-storage capacity of solar thermal fuels

Large-scale utilization of solar-energy resources will require considerable advances in energy-storage technologies to meet ever-increasing global energy demands. Other than liquid fuels, existing energy-storage materials do not provide the requisite combination of high energy density, high stability, easy handling, transportability and low cost. New hybrid solar thermal fuels, composed of photoswitchable molecules on rigid, low-mass nanostructures, transcend the physical limitations of molecular solar thermal fuels by introducing local sterically constrained environments in which interactions between chromophores can be tuned. We demonstrate this principle of a hybrid solar thermal fuel using azobenzene-functionalized carbon nanotubes. We show that, on composite bundling, the amount of energy stored per azobenzene more than doubles from 58 to 120 kJ mol(-1), and the material also maintains robust cyclability and stability. Our results demonstrate that solar thermal fuels composed of molecule-nanostructure hybrids can exhibit significantly enhanced energy-storage capabilities through the generation of template-enforced steric strain.