RUI: Photocatalytic Protein-Catalyst Hybrids to Perform Solar Carbon Dioxide Reduction to Carbon-Based Fuels or Chemicals

With the support of the Chemical Synthesis Program in the Division of Chemistry, Sarah Soltau of Bridgewater State University in Bridgewater, Massachusetts is studying the development of new mechanisms to reductively capture carbon dioxide emissions, studies relevant to the greenhouse gas challenges facing society today and to the carbon cycle in general. This work aims to develop light-driven systems that convert carbon dioxide into useful reduction products using novel hybrid catalytic systems under development. These light-driven systems are comprised of a protein isolated from algae and an earth-abundant transition metal catalyst. In addition, this project will promote the teaching and training of undergraduate student researchers who stand to become the next generation of STEM (science, technology, engineering and mathematics) researchers. In this project, the Soltau team will also conduct outreach activities with local high school students on green chemistry, alternative energy, and climate change. Carbon dioxide emissions are a highly significant global health concern. This project aims to develop new catalytic systems to capture and reduce carbon dioxide to generate reduction products as formic acid, methanol, or methane with applications as one-carbon building blocks or as fuel additives. A photoactive protein, Photosystem I (PSI), will be isolated from the green algae, Chlorella vulgaris, and then will be covalently attached to a series of earth-abundant transition metal catalyst complexes for carbon dioxide (CO2) reduction. These PSI-CO2 reduction catalyst systems will be illuminated with white light to characterize their efficiency using a sacrificial electron donor, and an electron transfer protein. The products of these photochemical reactions will be characterized by using a variety of chromatographic and spectroscopic techniques to determine the functionality and mechanism of the PSI-CO2 reduction catalyst systems. Success in this project will provide for new approach to photodriven CO2 capture and redox chemistry. This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.