1851
(Invited) Energy Transfer and Catalysis in Metal Organic Framework Arrays

Monday, 2 October 2017: 15:00
National Harbor 6 (Gaylord National Resort and Convention Center)
A. J. Morris (Virginia Tech)
Metal Organic Frameworks (MOFs) provide a promising platform for the control of energy transfer within light-harvesting arrays. The efficiency of energy transfer is related to three major factors - the degree of spectral overlap between the donor (emission) and acceptor (absorption), the distance between donor and acceptor, and the orientation of the donor and acceptor in 3D space. Our group has pioneered work in the investigation in effects of separation distance and orientation on energy transfer in chromophore-modified MOFs. Given our results, design parameters for MOF energy transfer candidates will be provided. Additionally, we will explore the capability of MOF arrays to promote electron transfer catalysis. Our results indicate that MOFs promote various energy-related catalytic reactions including oxygen reduction, carbon dioxide reduction, and water oxidation. The mechanism of electron transport through these catalysts-modified MOFs is one of ambi-polar redox hopping. Through MOF incorporation, the current resultant under electrochemical conditions is increased by two orders of magnitude.