Visible light-induced wateroxidation catalyzed by molybdenum-based polyoxometalates with mono- and dicobalt(iii) cores as oxygen-evolving centers

Abstract

The Mo-based polyoxometalates containing mono- and dicobalt(III) catalyst cores, [CoMo₆O₂₄H₆]³⁻ and [Co₂Mo₁₀O₃₈H₄]⁶⁻, were found to serve as O₂-evolving catalysts in a system consisting of tris(2,2′-bipyridine)ruthenium(II) (Ru(bpy)₃²⁺) and sodium persulfate (S₂O²⁻₈) in an aqueous borate buffer solution at pH 8.0. Kinetics of O₂ evolution reveals that the higher cobalt nuclearity is not necessary to attain the highly active nature of the catalyst.