The sun is an abiundant source of energy that if harnessed inexpensively and stored has the potential to revolutionize the energy industry. One potential method to store solar energy for use in the evening or on cloudy days is photosynthesis. Natural photosynthesis evolved over billions of years to drive various complex processes in concert. That said, the natural system is too inefficienct for ubiquitous implementation as an energy storage method. Artificial methods to photosynthetic chemistry must then incorporate all the complex chemistry of natural photosynthesis [(1) the absorption of light, (2) transfer of that energy, (3) charge separation, (4) charage transport, and (5) cataysis] and do so efficiently and economically. Herein, we report three methods for the incorporation of molecular water oxidation catalysts into metal organic framework (MOF) structures. We explore two methods of activation - electrochemical and more directly related to artificial photosynthesis, photochemical. The results show that MOF-incorporation stabalizes the molecular catalysts resulting in higher Faradaic efficiencies than the homogeneous comparison.

Photo- and electro-catalytic water oxidation by metal organic frameworks

252nd National Meeting (2016)

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