Tunable Energy Release in a Reversible Molecular Solar Thermal System
Journal article, 2022
Molecular solar thermal (MOST) systems open application fields for solar energy conversion as they combine conversion, storage, and release in one single molecule. For energy release, catalysts must be controllable, selective, and stable over many operation cycles. Here, we present a MOST/catalyst couple, which combines all these properties. We explore solar energy storage in a tailor-made MOST system (cyano-3-(3,4-dimethoxyphenyl)-norbornadiene/quadricyclane; NBD′/QC′) and the energy release heterogeneously catalyzed at a Au(111) surface. By photoelectrochemical infrared reflection absorption spectroscopy (PEC-IRRAS) and scanning tunneling microscopy, we show that Au triggers the energy release with very high activity. Most remarkably, the release rate of the heterogeneously catalyzed process can be tuned by applying an external potential. Our durability tests show that the MOST/catalyst system is stable over 1000 storage cycles without any decomposition. The surface structure of the catalyst is preserved, and its activity decreases by only 0.1% per storage cycle.
solar thermal fuels
energy storage
photoswitches
heterogeneous catalysis
norbornadiene
quadricyclane
gold
Author
Evanie Franz
University of Erlangen-Nuremberg (FAU)
Corinna Stumm
University of Erlangen-Nuremberg (FAU)
Fabian Waidhas
University of Erlangen-Nuremberg (FAU)
Manon Bertram
University of Erlangen-Nuremberg (FAU)
Martyn Jevric
Chalmers, Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Applied Chemistry
Jessica Orrego Hernandez
Applied Surface Chemistry
Helen Hölzel
Chalmers, Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Applied Chemistry
Kasper Moth-Poulsen
Institute of Material Science of Barcelona (ICMAB)
Catalan Institution for Research and Advanced Studies
Chalmers, Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Applied Chemistry
Olaf Brummel
University of Erlangen-Nuremberg (FAU)
Jörg Libuda
University of Erlangen-Nuremberg (FAU)
ACS Catalysis
21555435 (eISSN)
13418-13425Subject Categories
Chemical Process Engineering
Other Chemistry Topics
Energy Systems
DOI
10.1021/acscatal.2c03043