Photodriven water oxidation initiated by a surface bound chromophore-donor-catalyst assembly
Abstract
In photosynthesis, solar energy is used to produce solar fuels in the form of new chemical bonds. A critical step to mimic photosystem II (PS II), a key protein in nature's photosynthesis, for artificial photosynthesis is designing devices for efficient light-driven water oxidation. Here, we describe a single molecular assembly electrode that duplicates the key components of PSII. It consists of a polypyridyl light absorber, chemically linked to an intermediate electron donor, with a molecular-based water oxidation catalyst on a SnO2/TiO2core/shell electrode. The synthetic device mimics PSII in achieving sustained, light-driven water oxidation catalysis. It highlights the value of the tyrosine–histidine pair in PSII in achieving efficient water oxidation catalysis in artificial photosynthetic devices.
Citation
Photodriven water oxidation initiated by a surface bound chromophore-donor-catalyst assembly
D. Wang, Z. Xu, M. V. Sheridan, J. J. Concepcion, F. Li, T. Lian and T. J. Meyer, Chem. Sci., 2021, 12, 14441 DOI: 10.1039/D1SC03896F