Graduate Student Lizhu Chen will present “Robust Fe=O Catalysts for Water Oxidation” to the department.

Many environmental problems like global warming; ocean level rises and ocean acidification fused with our reliance on fossil fuels as an energy source. To avoid or mitigate the impact of fossil fuel consumption, new technologies for sustainable, carbon-neutral energy are needed. Water oxidation, a key step in natural and artificial photosynthesis, is responsible for supplying the protons and electrons needed in reductive half reactions that convert solar energy into chemical fuels. Developing inexpensive and efficient catalysts for this multi-electron/multi-proton process remains an important research objective.¹In this context, one site iron nuclear catalysts have been reported for water oxidation, and the mechanism based on noble metal catalysts studies has been well developed, but limited reactivity and poor catalyst stability are common among these systems.²

Reference

1) Kärkäs, M. D.; Verho, O.; Johnston, E. V.; Åkermark, B. Chem. Rev. 2014, 114, 11863.

2) Fillol. J. L; Codola. Z; Bosch. I. G; Gomez. L; Pla. J. J; Costas. M. Nature Chem. 2011, 3, 807.