RESEARCH AREAS

RESEARCH AREAS

Bio-inspired Molecular Materials for Solar Fuels

For millenia, photosynthetic organisms have captured, converted, and stored solar energy in chemical bonds. With this inspiration, the Bio-Inspired Systems for Fuels Subgroup seeks to develop molecular assemblies that use solar energy to oxidize water and generate hydrogen. Just as photofunctional proteins have a specific environment that promotes solar fuel formation, researchers are developing self-ordering and self-assembling components that can integrate the functions of light harvesting, charge separation, and catalysis.

A bio-inspired “smart matrix” will be constructed from perylene-3,4-dicarboximide (PMI), which may form helical nanotubes through the synergistic effects of π-π stacking, nanosegregation, and hydrogen bonding. The substantial dipole moment of the helical structure should facilitate efficient charge separation and efficient charge motion. The Advanced Photon Source at Argonne National Laboratory will be a critical resource, since small-angle x-ray scattering from non-covalent aggregates can help elucidate solution-phase structures.

Each PMI unit will have functional electron donors and acceptors, as well as catalysts that can be compartmentalized on either the interior or exterior of the nanotubes.  For water oxidation and proton reduction, the subgroup is investigating pincer-based metal complexes, which are robust and possess diverse reactivity. Another research focus will be on hydrogenase enzymes, based on abundant first row transition metals. In addition to collaborators at Northwestern and Argonne, researchers are working on these challenges with Thomas Rauchfuss at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, as well as the team of Victor Batista, Gary Brudvig, and Robert Crabtree at Yale University.

April 2010