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Revolution in chemistry: New manganese system for sustainable energy!
JGU Mainz is developing cost-effective manganese complexes for sustainable photochemistry to produce hydrogen using light.
Revolution in chemistry: New manganese system for sustainable energy!
Research teams around the world have made significant progress in mimicking natural photosynthesis, and new developments in photochemistry provide impressive evidence of this. A team of Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz has developed a novel metal complex based on manganese that revolutionizes the lifetime of excited states and opens up new possibilities for sustainable applications.
Light is increasingly being used as an energy source for chemical reactions, but previous catalysts were often based on rare and expensive metals such as ruthenium, osmium or iridium. In contrast, manganese is not only inexpensive, but also over 100,000 times more abundant than ruthenium. The new manganese complex also has an exceptional lifespan of over 190 nanoseconds.
Revolutionary properties of the new manganese complex
The manganese complex was prepared by a simple one-step synthesis from commercially available starting materials. This synthesis combines a colorless manganese salt with a colorless ligand, resulting in a deep purple color. This remarkable property enables strong light absorption and high light utilization efficiency. The complex can transfer electrons to other molecules, which was clearly demonstrated by the detection of the initial product of the photoreaction.
The research team's discovery expands the possibilities of sustainable photochemistry and has potential applications in hydrogen production, a critical area of renewable energy. The goal is to efficiently split water molecules using solar energy and produce chemical energy sources.
Innovation in artificial photosynthesis
At the same time, scientists are working on Max Planck Institute for Chemical Energy Conversion on the artificial imitation of natural photosynthesis to develop clean energy sources. The focus is on light-induced water splitting, a process that occurs in nature but is technically complex to reproduce. The team has successfully solved the structure of a manganese-calcium complex that splits water and produces oxygen.
The catalyst consists of four manganese atoms and one calcium atom, which are embedded in a membrane protein of photosystem II. Through a cycle that releases protons, electrons and molecular oxygen, this approach could lead to the development of cost-effective, bio-inspired catalysts that reduce dependence on fossil fuels, particularly in the transport sector.
The challenge of isolating and characterizing the structure of the manganese-calcium complex was overcome using state-of-the-art electron spin resonance (ESR) spectroscopy and new theoretical methods. These findings can serve as a blueprint for future artificial systems that store solar energy as chemically available energy.
Meaning and outlook
The developments on both Institute Mainz as well as on Max Planck Institute are groundbreaking. Researchers are working to further optimize the catalytic processes, particularly the oxidation of water, which is a central chemical reaction in photosynthesis. The use of common and inexpensive metals such as manganese could significantly reduce the production costs of hydrogen and other solar fuels.
The prospect of effective artificial photosynthesis, which solves several problems of energy production and the reduction of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere, not only becomes more realistic, but is also a step towards sustainable energy production.