Synthetic Approaches to Functional Nitrogenase Models and New Semiconductor Nanomaterials

Abstract

The pressing global need to reduce energy consumption and increase the availability of clean and renewable energy sources requires innovation in a range of different areas of science and engineering.  Inorganic and materials chemistry underlie many important sustainability technologies at a fundamental level.  This talk will address recent progress in two different areas of synthetic inorganic chemistry with implications in these challenges.  In the first part, I will discuss efforts towards the synthesis of iron-containing model complexes of the nitrogenase enzyme.  Through the design and synthesis of new organometallic ligand platforms designed to mimic certain structural aspects of the iron-molybdenum nitrogenase cofactor, we were able to achieve iron-catalyzed fixation of nitrogen to ammonia, as well as to gain considerable insight into key structure-function relationships that impact catalytic efficiency. In the second part, I will discuss ways in which we have leveraged post-synthetic ion exchange in semiconductor nanomaterials to synthesize and characterize new Yb(3+)-doped semiconductors and lead-free perovskite materials, with potential applications targeted at solar energy conversion.