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)

Vol. 12 13418-13425

Subject Categories

Chemical Process Engineering

Other Chemistry Topics

Energy Systems

DOI

10.1021/acscatal.2c03043

More information

Latest update

7/17/2024