Unveiling the Potential of Heterogeneous Catalysts for Molecular Solar Thermal Systems
Journal article, 2024

Solar energy utilization has gained considerable attention due to its abundance and renewability. However, its intermittent nature presents a challenge in harnessing its full potential. The development of energy storing compounds capable of capturing and releasing solar energy on demand has emerged as a potential solution. These compounds undergo a photochemical transformation that results in a high-energy metastable photoisomer, which stores solar energy in the form of chemical bonds and can release it as heat when required. Such systems are referred to as MOlecular Solar Thermal (MOST)-systems. Although the photoisomerization of MOST systems has been vastly studied, its back-conversion, particularly using heterogeneous catalysts, is still underexplored and the development of effective catalysts for releasing stored energy is crucial. Herein we compare the performance of 27 heterogeneous catalysts releasing the stored energy in an efficient Norbornadiene/Quadricyclane (NBD/QC) MOST system. We report the first benchmarking of heterogeneous catalysts for a MOST system using a robust comparison method of the catalysts’ activity and monitoring the conversion using UV-Visible (UV-Vis) spectroscopy. Our findings provide insights into the development of effective catalysts for MOST systems. We anticipate that our assay will reveal the necessity of further investigation on heterogeneous catalysis.

heat release

heterogeneous catalysis

energy

MOST

UV-Vis

Author

Alberto Gimenez-Gomez

University of La Rioja

Benjamin Rollins

Johnson Matthey

Andrew Steele

Johnson Matthey

Helen Hölzel

Chalmers, Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Applied Chemistry

Polytechnic University of Catalonia

Nicolò Baggi

Institute of Material Science of Barcelona (ICMAB)

Kasper Moth-Poulsen

Institute of Material Science of Barcelona (ICMAB)

Polytechnic University of Catalonia

Chalmers, Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Applied Chemistry

Catalan Institution for Research and Advanced Studies

Ignacio Funes-Ardoiz

University of La Rioja

Diego Sampedro

University of La Rioja

Chemistry - A European Journal

0947-6539 (ISSN) 1521-3765 (eISSN)

Vol. 30 1 e202303230

Molecular Solar Thermal energy storage systems (MOST)

Swedish Energy Agency (2019-010724), 2019-05-07 -- 2019-09-03.

European Commission (EC) (EC/H2020/951801), 2020-09-01 -- 2024-02-29.

Subject Categories

Other Chemistry Topics

Energy Systems

Organic Chemistry

DOI

10.1002/chem.202303230

PubMed

37947164

More information

Latest update

1/25/2024