Date of Award
1-1-2022
Document Type
Dissertation
Degree Name
Ph.D. in Chemistry
Department
Chemistry and Biochemistry
First Advisor
Jonah W. Jurss
Second Advisor
Jared H. Delcamp
Third Advisor
Saumen Chakraborty
Relational Format
dissertation/thesis
Abstract
The search for cost-efficient alternate energy sources has been a significant goal of the scientific community. Around 83% of global primary energy consumption currently comes from fossil fuels and this over dependency on fossil fuels has been a major contributor for increased carbon dioxide (CO2) levels in the atmosphere. The safe path is to use carbon-neutral energy sources such as solar, wind, hydroelectric, and geothermal energy or to use these renewable energy sources to drive chemical reactions to convert CO2 to energy rich fuels or fuel precursors. Such a strategy involves storage of energy in the form of chemical bonds and can be utilized based on the real-time energy demand. This document summarizes four of the projects that I have been working on for my PhD dissertation with Dr. Jonah Jurss. The first two projects are geared towards energy storage using solar energy to convert CO2 into chemical fuels such as methane (CH4) or fuel precursors such as carbon monoxide (CO), which constitute the reductive half-reaction of an artificial photosynthesis. The first project is geared towards photocatalytic CO2 reduction using self-sensitized Ru complexes decorated with redox active ligand framework. The second project is focused on design and application of macrocyclic Ni complexes bearing redox active ligand framework towards photocatalytic CO2 reduction to CH4 and CO using an external sensitizer. The remaining projects are focused on design and synthesis of molecular copper-based redox shuttles for dye-sensitized solar cells (DSCs) for solar-to-electrical energy conversion.
Recommended Citation
Devdass, Anthony, "Molecular Design of Transition Metal Complexes for Photocatalytic CO2 Reduction and Redox Mediation in Dye-Sensitized Solar Cells" (2022). Electronic Theses and Dissertations. 2210.
https://egrove.olemiss.edu/etd/2210