Photoelectrosynthesis

Selective Formation of Organic Compounds by Photoelectrosynthesis at Semiconductor Particles... 

Forina, M., Lanteri, S., and Armanino, C. Chemometrics in Food Chemistry. 141, 91-143 (1987). Fox, M. A. Selective Formation of Organic Compounds by Photoelectrosynthesis at Semiconductor... 

A. J. Nozik, Photoelectrosynthesis at Semiconductor Electrodes . Presented at the 3rd International Conference on Photochemical Conversion and Storage of Solar Energy (ref. 1). 

Photoelectrosynthesis provided by the right catalysts offer some possibilities for converting inexpensive, readily available materials (H2O, CO2, N2 or CO) into useful fuels. Other chemically useful products, such as chlorine (now prepared by electrolysis of NaCl demanding electrical energy) have been generated by photooxidation of chloride using Ti02 electrode (Eq. 11-9) ... 

Kraeutler B, Bard AJ (1977) Photoelectrosynthesis of ethane from acetate ion at an n-type titanium dioxide electrode. The photo-Kolbe reaction. J Am Chem Soc 99 7729-7731... 

Contents E.Steckhan Organic Syntheses with Electrochemically Regenerable Redox Systems. -M. A. Fox Selective Formation of Organic Compounds by Photoelectrosynthesis at Semiconductor Particles. - H.-J. Schafer Oxidation of Organic Compounds at the Nickel Hydroxide Electrode. - H. J. P. Utley Electrogenerated Bases. 

Layered Compounds and Other New Materials. Another active area of research in photoelectrosynthesis involves the study of new semiconductor electrode materials. Layered compounds are particularly interesting since the top of the valence band is comprised of metal orbitals rather than anion 4p orbitals (55). This means that an optical transition near the band gap energy involves only metal to metal transitions (the conduction band is also made of d-like metal orbitals) and does not disrupt a metal-anion bond. This type of optical transition is believed to be less susceptible to photocorrosion than the usual transitions involving anion-like orbitals in the valence band. 

General Status and Prognosis for Photoelectrosynthesis. The photoelectrosynthetic approach to solar energy conversion is very appealing and exciting and deserves continued intense attention. 

The potential advantages of photoelectrosynthesis over photovol-taics coupled to dark electrosynthesis are in higher net conversion efficiency, better engineering designs for solar reactors, and unique catalytic effects possible with modified semiconductor electrode surfaces. 

---