A photosensitizer–polyoxometalate dyad that enables the decoupling of light and dark reactions for delayed on-demand solar hydrogen production

Amthor, Sebastian; Knoll, Sebastian; Heiland, Magdalena; Zedler, Linda; Li, Chunyu; Nauroozi, Djawed; Tobaschus, Willi; Mengele, Alexander K.; Anjass, Montaha; Schubert, Ulrich S.; Dietzek-Ivanšić, Benjamin; Rau, Sven; Streb, Carsten

Abstract:

Decoupling the production of solar hydrogen from the diurnal cycle is a key challenge in solar energy conversion, the success of which could lead to sustainable energy schemes capable of delivering H2 independent of the time of day. Here, we report a fully integrated photochemical molecular dyad composed of a ruthenium-complex photosensitizer covalently linked to a Dawson polyoxometalate that acts as an electron-storage site and hydrogen-evolving catalyst. Visible-light irradiation of the system in solution leads to charge separation and electron storage on the polyoxometalate, effectively resulting in a liquid fuel. In contrast to related, earlier dyads, this system enables the harvesting, storage and delayed release of solar energy. On-demand hydrogen release is possible by adding a proton donor to the dyad solution. The system is a minimal molecular model for arti- ficial photosynthesis and enables the spatial and temporal separation of light absorption, fuel storage and hydrogen release.

Research areas:

• Supramolecular Chemistry

Year:

2022

Type of Publication:

Article

Journal:

Nature Chemistry

Volume:

14

Pages:

321 - 327

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.1038/s41557-021-00850-8