Inorganic Chemistry Unit, Department of Chemistry, Faculty of Science,
Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona
e-mail: Jordi.GarciaAnton@uab.es
The European Green Deal seeks to establish a fair, equitable and prosperous society with a resource-efficient and competitive economy, achieving net-zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2050. Developing renewable methods for producing fuels and electricity is imperative to reach this goal. Solar energy emerges as a pivotal alternative to fossil fuels, given that the Sun provides enough energy in just one hour to meet humanity’s energy needs for an entire year. In this context, the emulation of natural photosynthesis stands out as a promising approach. This involves harnessing sunlight energy and utilizing it to create chemical bonds in solar fuels and chemical feedstocks through artificial photosynthesis (AP). AP represents a complex process wherein sunlight triggers reactions, with water serving as the electron source at the anode. These reactions include the Oxygen Evolution Reaction (OER), where electrons are generated to drive cathodic reduction processes such as the Hydrogen Evolution Reaction (HER), or the reduction of CO2 to carbonaceous molecules.
Scheme 1. Metal NPs for Artificial
Metallic nanoparticles (NPs) are perfect candidates to catalyze AP reactions. [1] This is largely due to their size-related properties, which confer outstanding catalytic properties upon NPs. One particularly interesting method for the synthesis of metallic NPs is the organometallic approach.[1] This procedure entails the controlled decomposition of an organometallic precursor in the presence of a stabilizer, usually a ligand of interest, under mild conditions. In this way, the synthesized NPs present a clean surface free of contaminant by-products. In this communication, examples of metal nanoparticles (NPs) catalyzed AP reactions will be presented (Scheme 1).
References
1. P. Serp, K. Philippot, in Nanomaterials in Catalysis (Eds.: P. Serp, K. Philippot), Wiley-VCH, Weinheim 2013, 1-54.
2.a) G. Martí, L. Mallón, N. Romero, L. Francàs, R. Bofill, K. Philippot, J. García-Antón, X. Sala, Adv. Energy Mater. 2023, 2300282.
2.b) C. Amiens, D. Ciuculescu-Pradines, K. Philippot, Coordination Chemistry Reviews 2016, 308, 409-432.
