Through this CAREER award funded by the Chemical Catalysis Program of the Chemistry Division, Professor Alvin A. Holder of the University of Southern Mississippi (USM) will be applying his expertise in the area of catalysis towards the development of photocatalysts. The work targets the important problem of developing improved catalysts capable of photolytic hydrogen generation in aqueous media. It will address the synthesis and characterization of ruthenium(II)-cobalt(II)/cobalt(III) mixed-metal complexes, and investigate their photocatalytic properties using homogeneous schemes. These photocatalytic schemes will exploit reductive quenching pathways that should lead to significantly enhanced catalytic turnovers. In addition, Professor Holder will integrate and bring the chemistry of energy and catalysis in the laboratory to high school students and teachers from the Hattiesburg and surrounding areas, as well as undergraduates and graduate students at USM.
This interdisciplinary project will make key contributions to the fundamental knowledge base of converting solar energy to environmentally-friendly, carbon-free, combustible chemical fuels. In addition, the interdisciplinary nature of the proposed work is expected to impact diverse fields, including synthetic chemistry, analytical chemistry, photochemistry, materials chemistry, electrochemistry, and catalysis. The research further involves several teaching points which will be integrated into educational activities at all levels, and involve groups generally underrepresented in science and technology.
