New robust and effective molecular hybrid material for electrocatalytic water oxidation at neutral pH

On October 23, the group of Prof. Antoni Llobet has published on the Advanced Materials journal the first example of a molecular water oxidation catalysts based on first row transition metal complex anchored on a conductive solid support, that maintains its molecular integrity after more than 11.000 TONs.

“Using sunlight to split water holds great promise for the shift from fossil to solar fuels.” Quotes Prof. Antoni Lloret. His research group develops water oxidation catalysts inspired by nature’s structural motives and reactivity strategies. Highly performant and robust catalysts have been developed based on ruthenium (Ru) complexes. However, as Prof. Llobet explains, “given the scarcity of Ru in nature, to ensure sustainability we need to develop high-performance complexes based on abundant first-row transition metals which at present are basically inexistent except for a very few copper (Cu) complexes.”

“This study opens the door to employing hybrid materials as catalysts in electrochemical and photoelectrochemical water-splitting devices. This breakthrough extends to the field of solar fuels and more broadly to applications in converting solar energy into chemical products” declares Dr. Carlos Garcia Bellido, one of the authors of the paper and postdoctoral researcher at Prof. Llobet’s group.

Work published on the Advanced Materials journal was prepared by ICIQ in collaboration with Alma Mater Studiorum – Università di Bologna. The full article is available here: https://www.iciq.org/new-robust-and-effective-molecular-hybrid-material-for-electrocatalytic-water-oxidation-at-neutral-ph/

Congratulation to the authors!

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