The rapid depletion of non-renewable resources and their related combustion issues require the development of alternative energy sources and technologies with zero carbon footprint. Water splitting is considered to be a promising approach for renewable and sustainable energy conversion. We have recently developed molecular electrocatalysts that produce hydrogen gas without the need of metal centers. We have learned that the four nitrogen core in porphyrinoid macrocycles can pre-arrange transition states by maintaining four protons in close proximity with each other. This has been shown to be effective in the production of hydrogen without the aid of a metal center while being robust and stable. This talk will describe our research group efforts towards the rational design of molecular based electrocatalysts without the need of a metal-center to split water into hydrogen and oxygen. Several strategies to heterogenize molecular catalysts will also be described.

Porphyrin based materials as bifunctional electrocatalysts for water splitting

ACS Spring 2022

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