Research topic: Photocatalytic Water Oxidation in a Molecular Catalyst-Metal-Organic Framework-Hybrid

Inspired by the strategies in natural photosynthesis, various efficient heterogeneous molecular catalyst-based systems for photoreductions have been developed as a renewable way for converting solar energy into value added chemical products like H₂. However, the dependence on sacrificial reagents in these photocatalytic reduction-reactions limits their sustainability and atom economy. To achieve sacrificial reagent-free conditions, closing the redox cycle by coupling these photoreductions to relevant oxidations must be achieved. However, so far photooxidations have not been well researched and efficient catalytic systems need to be established. The goal of my project is to integrate state-of-the-art molecular water oxidation catalysts (MWOCs) into a MOF.