Issue 7, 2014

Photocatalytic water oxidation at soft interfaces

Abstract

Molecular water oxidation catalysts have been, for the first time, co-embedded with a photosensitizer into phospholipid membranes. The functionalized small unilamellar vesicles produce molecular oxygen by photocatalysis when irradiated with visible light in aqueous buffer. The two dimensional assembly of the catalysts at the lipid–water interface mimics photoactive membranes in biology and allows photocatalytic water oxidation at very low catalyst concentrations of 500 nM, which cannot be reached in homogeneous systems. Highest TONs are obtained below the membrane's main transition temperature indicating that phase separation, clustering and a limited dynamic enhance the photocatalytic activity of the assembly. The concept of membrane co-embedding can be applied to various combinations, ratios and concentrations of photosensitizers and water oxidizing catalysts, providing a new approach for artificial photosynthesis.

Graphical abstract: Photocatalytic water oxidation at soft interfaces

Supplementary files

Article information

Article type
Edge Article
Submitted
07 Apr 2014
Accepted
01 May 2014
First published
01 May 2014
This article is Open Access

All publication charges for this article have been paid for by the Royal Society of Chemistry
Creative Commons BY license

Chem. Sci., 2014,5, 2683-2687

Author version available

Photocatalytic water oxidation at soft interfaces

M. Hansen, F. Li, L. Sun and B. König, Chem. Sci., 2014, 5, 2683 DOI: 10.1039/C4SC01018C

This article is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Unported Licence. You can use material from this article in other publications without requesting further permissions from the RSC, provided that the correct acknowledgement is given.

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