We describe the development of solar water-splitting cells comprising earth-abundant elements that operate in near-neutral pH conditions, both with and without connecting wires. The cells consist of a triple junction, amorphous silicon photovoltaic interfaced to hydrogen- and oxygen-evolving catalysts made from an alloy of earth-abundant metals and a cobalt|borate catalyst, respectively. The devices described here carry out the solar-driven water-splitting reaction at efficiencies of 4.7% for a wired configuration and 2.5% for a wireless configuration when illuminated with 1 sun (100 milliwatts per square centimeter) of air mass 1.5 simulated sunlight. Fuel-forming catalysts interfaced with light-harvesting semiconductors afford a pathway to direct solar-to-fuels conversion that captures many of the basic functional elements of a leaf.

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Cubic Co3O4 nanoparticles with average diameters of 5.9, 21.1, and 46.9 nm (hereafter small, medium, and large) have been synthesized and characterized by pXRD, TEM, and BET. The nanoparticles were loaded onto Ni foam supports for evaluation as anodes for water electrolysis in 1.0 M KOH. Current densities of 10 mA/cm2 were achieved at overpotentials of 328, 363, and 382 mV for anodes loaded with 1 mg/cm2 of small, medium, and large sized Co3O4 nanoparticles, respectively. The activity correlates with the BET surface area of the isolated particles. A plot of the electrochemical overpotential at 10 mA/cm2 against the log of the BET surface area gives a linear relation with a slope of −47 ± 7 mV/dec, showing unequivocally that the activity increase is a function of accessible catalyst surface area.

A high surface area electrode is functionalized with cobalt-based oxygen evolving catalysts (Co-OEC ¼ electrodeposited from pH 7 phosphate, Pi, pH 8.5 methylphosphonate, MePi, and pH 9.2 borate electrolyte, Bi). Co-OEC prepared from MePi and operated in Pi and Bi achieves a current density of 100 mA cm À2 for water oxidation at 442 and 363 mV overpotential, respectively. The catalyst retains activity in near-neutral pH buffered electrolyte in natural waters such as those from the Charles River (Cambridge, MA) and seawater (Woods Hole, MA). The efficacy and ease of operation of anodes functionalized with Co-OEC at appreciable current density together with its ability to operate in near neutral pH buffered natural water sources bodes well for the translation of this catalyst to a viable renewable energy storage technology.

Energy conversion cycles are aimed at driving unfavorable, small-molecule activation reactions with a photon harnessed directly by a transition-metal catalyst or indirectly by a transition-metal catalyst at the surface of a photovoltaic cell. The construction of such cycles confronts daunting challenges because they rely on chemical transformations not understood at the most basic levels. These transformations include multielectron transfer, proton-coupled electron transfer, and bond-breaking and -making reactions of energy-poor substrates. We have begun to explore these poorly understood areas of molecular science with transition-metal complexes that promote hydrogen production and oxygen bond-breaking and -making chemistry of consequence to water splitting.

Dihydrides of the formula Rh2(II,II)(tfepma)3H2Cl2 (tfepma = (bis[bis(trifluoroethoxy)phosphino]methylamine, MeN(P[OCH2CF3]2)2), have been prepared by the addition of H2 to the two-electron mixed-valence complex, Rh2(0,II)(tfepma)3Cl2 (1). Three isomeric forms with hydrides in syn (2), anti (3), and cis (4) conformations have been characterized by X-ray diffraction. Photolysis of 2 results in prompt formation of a short-lived blue photoproduct (lambda(max) = 600 nm) and a stoichiometric quantity of H2, as determined by Toepler pump and isotopic labeling experiments. The blue photoproduct was identified as a Rh2(I,I) complex resulting from the reductive elimination of H2, as determined from the examination of bimetallic cores coordinated by tfepm (tfepm = (bis[bis(trifluoroethoxy)phosphino]methane, CH2(P[OCH2CF3]2)2), for which complexes of the formula M2(I,I)(tfepm)3Cl2 (5, M = Rh and 6, M = Ir) have been isolated. The d8...d8 dimer of 5 converts to Rh2(0,II)(tfepm)3Cl2CN(t)Bu (8) upon the addition of 1 equiv of tert-butylisonitrile, a result of halogen migration and disproportionation of the valence symmetric core of 5, which is structurally compared to its two-electron mixed-valence analogue, Rh2(0,II)(dfpma)3Cl2CN(t)Bu (9) (dfpma = bis(difluorophosphino)methylamine, MeN(PF2)2). The halogen migration is captured in Ir2(I,I)(tfepm)3(mu-Cl)Cl (7), which is distinguished by the presence of a chloride that bridges the diiridium centers. Taken together, complexes 1-9 permit the construction of a complete photocycle for the photogeneration of H2 by dirhodium dfpma complexes in homogeneous solutions of hydrohalic acids.

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Phosphine)-and (N-heterocyclic carbene)gold(I) derivatives of naphthalene and pyrene are reported, containing one or two gold atoms per hydrocarbon. The new complexes are prepared by arylation of gold(I) substrates by arylboronic acids or aryl pinacolboronate esters in the presence of cesium carbonate. Isolated yields range from 52% to 98%. The boron precursors themselves derive from the parent hydrocarbon, where boron is installed in an iridium-catalyzed reaction, or from the aromatic bromides, which are borylated with palladium catalysis. Most of the new gold(I) complexes are air-and moisture-stable colorless solids; they are characterized by multinuclear NMR and optical spectroscopy, combustion analysis, and high-resolution mass spectrometry. X-ray diffraction crystal structures are reported for seven. Gold binding red-shifts optical absorption profiles, which are characteristic of the aromatic skeleton. All compounds show triplet-state luminescence, and dual singlet and triplet emission occurs in some instances. Phosphorescence persists for milliseconds at 77 K and for hundreds of microseconds at room temperature. The compounds' photophysical characteristics, along with time-dependent density-functional theory calculations, suggest emission from ππ* states of the aromatic core. Triplet-state geometry optimization finds minimal geometric rearrangement upon one-electron promotion from the (singlet) ground state.