This Research Opportunities for Women Research Planning Grant is in the general area of inorganic chemistry. Dr. Sharon M. Palmer of the Chemistry Department of Smith College will explore the use of metalloporphyrins as dye sensitizers on metal oxide semiconductor electrodes in photoelectrochemical cells. Metalloporphyrins have the long-lived excited states and high absorption coefficients in the visible region necessary to harvest solar energy. Various metalloporphyrins will be tested for photoefficiency and a stable chemical means of attaching the porphyrins to the metal oxide electrode will be investigated. Two undergraduate students will be involved in the project which, if promising, will lead to a proposal for sustained study.
