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Materials chemistry

Organic polymers form fuel from water

Nature volume 521, pages 41–42 (2015)Cite this article

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Porous polymers have joined the ranks of light-activated catalysts that split water into hydrogen, a carbon-free alternative to fossil fuels. Their properties are easily tuned — a big plus for the development of practically useful catalysts.

The Sun could be harnessed as an unlimited source of energy by exploiting another naturally abundant resource: water. The light-induced splitting of water into oxygen and hydrogen generates storable chemical fuels that have no carbon footprint, potentially solving the world's ever-increasing energy demands. The seemingly simple task of absorbing sunlight to split water requires a semiconductor catalyst, and inorganic catalysts are leading the field. Writing in the Journal of the American Chemical Society, Sprick et al.1 demonstrate that organic photocatalysts (light-activated catalysts) may become just as useful as their inorganic counterparts, and offer intriguing opportunities for future research because the catalysts' physical responses to light can be tailored.

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Figure 1: Optical and photocatalytic properties of a series of porous polymers.

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References

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. and the Chemistry Department, Vijay S. Vyas and Bettina V. Lotsch are at the Max Planck Institute for Solid State Research, Stuttgart 70569, Germany, University of Munich (LMU), Germany.,

    Vijay S. Vyas & Bettina V. Lotsch

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  1. Vijay S. Vyas
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  2. Bettina V. Lotsch
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Correspondence to Bettina V. Lotsch.

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Vyas, V., Lotsch, B. Organic polymers form fuel from water. Nature 521, 41–42 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1038/521041a

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