Solar fuels via artificial photosynthesis: From homogeneous photocatalysis in solution to a photoelectrochemical cell

The conversion and storage of solar energy into fuels provides a valuable solution for the future energy demand of our society. Making fuels via artificial photosynthesis, the so-called solar-to-fuel approach, is viewed as one of the most promising ways to produce clean and renewable energy. Solar-driven splitting of water into O2 and H2 via artificial photosynthesis is the key challenge in this field. The obtained hydrogen can be further processed to create other fuels such as formic acid, methanol, or higher alkanes.
This thesis describes the development of molecular materials for their use in Solar Fuel devices. Porphyrin-based photosensitizers were shown to be compatible with photocatalytic water oxidation reactions in high concentration of neutral phosphate buffer solution. Moreover, it also describes a series of novel benzo[ghi]perylenetriimide (BPTI) derivatives that potentially are the ideal electron acceptors in molecule based artificial photosynthesis devices.