Biomimetic Light Harvesting in Metalloporphyrins Encapsulated/Incorporated within Metal Organic Frameworks (MOFs).

Abstract

The global energy supply relies mostly on fossil fuels and only 10% comes from renewable energy. These places humankind in an unsafe situation as the fossil fuel resources won’t last forever. More efficient use of renewable energy is required sooner than later to meet the growing energy need. A promising approach is to utilize light harvesting chromophores (e.g., porphyrin derivatives) to advance organic photovoltaics and increase its efficiency or to improve photocatalysts. Metal-organic frameworks (MOFs) can be employed to aid the self-assembly of the porphyrin chromophores in a large light-harvesting system comparable to the natural photosystem. The advantage of using MOFs in such systems are discussed intensely in this thesis with a focus on how topologically different structures can modify the physicochemical properties of the porphyrin chromophores with the aim to improve their light harvesting properties. Pore modulation and tunability give MOFs an advantage over all other materials as they can be tailored to offer a specific characteristic for a specified application.