Optimization of Norbornadiene Compounds for Solar Thermal Storage by First-Principles Calculations.

Molecular photoswitches capable of storing solar energy are interesting candidates for future renewable energy applications. Here, using quantum mechanical calculations, we carry out a systematic screening of crucial optical (solar spectrum match) and thermal (storage energy density) properties of 64 such compounds based on the norbornadiene-quadricyclane system. Whereas a substantial number of these molecules reach the theoretical maximum solar power conversion efficiency, this requires a strong red-shift of the absorption spectrum, which causes undesirable absorption by the photoisomer as well as reduced thermal stability. These compounds typically also have a large molecular mass, leading to low storage densities. By contrast, single-substituted systems achieve a good compromise between efficiency and storage density, while avoiding competing absorption by the photo-isomer. This establishes guiding principles for the future development of molecular solar thermal storage systems.

Tuning the photochemical properties of the fulvalene-tetracarbonyl-diruthenium system.

In a Molecular Solar-Thermal Energy Storage (MOST) system, solar energy is converted to chemical energy using a compound that undergoes reversible endothermic photoisomerization. The high-energy photoisomer can later be converted back to the parent compound and the excess energy is released as heat. One of the most studied MOST systems is based on fulvalene-tetracarbonyl-diruthenium, and this paper demonstrates, for the first time, the possibility to tune the photochemical properties of this system by positive steric hindrance working on the fulvalene unit.

Comparative Ab-Initio Study of Substituted Norbornadiene-Quadricyclane Compounds for Solar Thermal Storage.

Molecular photoswitches that are capable of storing solar energy, so-called molecular solar thermal storage systems, are interesting candidates for future renewable energy applications. In this context, substituted norbornadiene-quadricyclane systems have received renewed interest due to recent advances in their synthesis. The optical, thermodynamic, and kinetic properties of these systems can vary dramatically depending on the chosen substituents. The molecular design of optimal compounds therefore requires a detailed understanding of the effect of individual substituents as well as their interplay. Here, we model absorption spectra, potential energy storage, and thermal barriers for back-conversion of several substituted systems using both single-reference (density functional theory using PBE, B3LYP, CAM-B3LYP, M06, M06-2x, and M06-L functionals as well as MP2 calculations) and multireference methods (complete active space techniques). Already the diaryl substituted compound displays a strong red-shift compared to the unsubstituted system, which is shown to result from the extension of the conjugated π-system upon substitution. Using specific donor/acceptor groups gives rise to a further albeit relatively smaller red-shift. The calculated storage energy is found to be rather insensitive to the specific substituents, although solvent effects are likely to be important and require further study. The barrier for thermal back-conversion exhibits strong multireference character and as a result is noticeably correlated with the red-shift. Two possible reaction paths for the thermal back-conversion of diaryl substituted quadricyclane are identified and it is shown that among the compounds considered the path via the acceptor side is systematically favored. Finally, the present study establishes the basis for high-throughput screening of norbornadiene-quadricyclane compounds as it provides guidelines for the level of accuracy that can be expected for key properties from several different techniques.

Cu(I) stabilizing crosslinked polyethyleneimine.

Polyethyleneimine (PEI) is known for its metal-coordinating properties and in its crosslinked form has applications in different areas ranging from drug delivery to waste water treatment and recovery of trace metals. With the aim to regulate the coordination environment of Cu(I) and Cu(II) ions in marine coatings, we have prepared a triazole cross-linking agent with 'soft' coordination that can crosslink PEI via indirect reductive amination. We have shown that this triazole crosslinker not only increases the Cu(II) absorption capacity of the crosslinked PEI in comparison to the traditionally used glutaraldehyde-crosslinked PEI (PEI-GA), but also allows the crosslinked polymer network to stabilize the Cu(I) oxidation state more effectively. The Cu(II) uptake and Cu(I) stabilization of the polymer have been determined by elemental analysis and UV-vis spectroscopy. It was found that the triazole-crosslinked polymer (PEI-TA) could coordinate up to 12 wt% of Cu(II) before and 6 wt% Cu(II) after imine reduction.

Very low band gap thiadiazoloquinoxaline donor-acceptor polymers as multi-tool conjugated polymers.

Here we report on the synthesis of two novel very low band gap (VLG) donor-acceptor polymers (Eg ≤ 1 eV) and an oligomer based on the thiadiazoloquinoxaline acceptor. Both polymers demonstrate decent ambipolar mobilities, with P1 showing the best performance of ∼10(-2) cm(2) V(-1) s(-1) for p- and n-type operation. These polymers are among the lowest band gap polymers (≲0.7 eV) reported, with a neutral λmax = 1476 nm (P2), which is the farthest red-shifted λmax reported to date for a soluble processable polymer. Very little has been done to characterize the electrochromic aspects of VLG polymers; interestingly, these polymers actually show a bleaching of their neutral absorptions in the near-infrared region and have an electrochromic contrast up to 30% at a switching speed of 3 s.

The Influence of Alkoxy Substitutions on the Properties of Diketopyrrolopyrrole-Phenyl Copolymers for Solar Cells.

A previously reported diketopyrrolopyrrole (DPP)-phenyl copolymer is modified by adding methoxy or octyloxy side chains on the phenyl spacer. The influence of these alkoxy substitutions on the physical, opto-electronic properties, and photovoltaic performance were investigated. It was found that the altered physical properties correlated with an increase in chain flexibility. Well-defined oligomers were synthesized to verify the observed structure-property relationship. Surprisingly, methoxy substitution on the benzene spacer resulted in higher melting and crystallization temperatures in the synthesized oligomers. This trend is not observed in the polymers, where the improved interactions are most likely counteracted by the larger conformational possibilities in the polymer chain upon alkoxy substitution. The best photovoltaic performance was obtained for the parent polymer: fullerene blends whereas the modifications on the other two polymers result in reduced open-circuit voltage and varying current densities under similar processing conditions. The current densities could be related to different polymer: fullerene blend morphologies. These results show that supposed small structural alterations such as methoxy substitution already significantly altered the physical properties of the parent polymer and also that oligomers and polymers respond divergent to structural alterations made on a parent structure.

Hydrogen evolution on single-crystal copper and silver: a theoretical study.

Hydrogen evolution on single-crystal copper and silver is investigated by a combination of density functional theory and a theory developed in our own group. At short times, the reaction rate is determined by the transfer of the first proton to the electrode surface. In accord with experiment, we find for both metals that this reaction proceeds faster on the (111) surfaces than on the (100) ones. The main cause is the lower, that is, more favourable, adsorption energy on the former surfaces. On both silver surfaces, the second step is electrochemical desorption. The same mechanism is likely to operate on copper.

Quantum chemical modeling of propene and butene epoxidation with hydrogen peroxide.

The mechanism of hydrogen peroxide assisted epoxidation of propene, 1-butene, trans-2-butene, cis-2-butene, and isobutene was studied using density functional theory calculations. The results are rationalized in the context of the previously proposed direct pathway for epoxidation of ethene with hydrogen peroxide and compared to the indirect pathway involving Ti(IV) peroxide groups. The indirect Ti(IV) peroxide pathway displays a 57.8 kJ mol(-1) activation enthalpy for the rate limiting step [Phys. Chem. Chem. Phys. 2007, 9, 5997]. In contrast, a lowering of the activation enthalpy is observed for the direct mechanism according to 72.3 (ethene), 53.9 (1-butene), 53.5 (propene), 46.9 (trans-2-butene), 46.6 (isobutene), and 42.6 (cis-2-butene) kJ mol(-1) when the reaction takes place on a binuclear Ti(IV) dihydroxide site. These values clearly show that the direct pathway becomes the most favorable. The stability of the epoxides toward hydrolysis to the corresponding diols are also addressed. The present work clearly demonstrates the generality and efficiency of a binuclear dihydroxide site in catalyzing the epoxidation of olefins with hydrogen peroxide, thus avoiding the formation of a surface peroxide group.

Quantum chemical modelling of ethene epoxidation with hydrogen peroxide: role of catalytic sites.

Ethene epoxidation with hydrogen peroxide was studied on hydroxylated binuclear metal sites, using DFT calculations at the B3LYP/6-311+G(d,p) level of theory. A decrease of the activation enthalpy of approximately 100 kJ mol(-1) was observed compared to the gas phase reaction between hydrogen peroxide and ethene. It was previously shown that micro-solvation with water reduces the activation enthalpy by approximately 77 kJ mol(-1) and only the additional 24 kJ mol(-1) can be attributed to the binuclear site. Three different metal centres were tested, Ti(iv), Si(iv) and Ge(iv), in order to investigate any specific role of the metal centre on the activation enthalpy. The results clearly show that the activation enthalpy is independent on the nature of the metal centre. This emphasises the role of the hydrogen bonded network provided by the hydroxylated metal sites, on the stabilisation of the transitions state. In ref. 1 (A. Lundin, I. Panas and E. Ahlberg, J. Phys. Chem. A, 2007, 111, 9080) it was demonstrated that, at the transition state and upon micro-solvation, the hydrogen peroxide entity becomes polarized within the hydrogen bonding network, forming a negatively-charged fragment distant from the ethene molecule and a positively-charged fragment directly involved in the oxygen insertion step. The same mechanism was found to hold also for the reaction at the binuclear catalytic site, since the required hydrogen bonding is effectively provided by the hydroxylated metal centres. This mechanism is compared to the two-step pathway which employs a metal peroxide intermediate. Both reaction channels were found to be plausible in confined environments.

Quantum chemical modeling of ethene epoxidation with hydrogen peroxide: the effect of microsolvation with water.

Quantum chemical calculations were performed to study the mechanism of ethene epoxidation with hydrogen peroxide. The calculations were carried out at the B3LYP/6-311+G(d,p) level of theory. The applicability of this functional to the problem at hand, including basis set effects, was validated by CCSD(T) and CASSCF based multireference MP2 calculations. A mechanism was determined where hydrogen peroxide becomes polarized in the transition state upon binding to the ethene molecule. The distant hydroxide fragment of the attached hydrogen peroxide molecule becomes partly negatively charged, while the other part of the molecule involves a proton and becomes partly positively charged. In the absence of water an activation energy of 139.7 kJ mol(-1) was determined for the isolated H(2)O(2) + C(2)H(4) system. By microsolvating with water, the impact of a hydrogen-bonded network on the activation energy was addressed. A 43.7 kJ mol(-1) lowering of the activation energy, DeltaE(a), was observed when including up to 4 water molecules in the model. This effect results from the stabilization of the proton and hydroxide fragments in the transition state. The findings are discussed in the context of previous theoretical studies on similar systems. Effects of adding or removing a proton to mimic acidic and alkaline conditions are addressed and the limitations of the model in solvating the excess charge are discussed.

A mechanistic investigation of ethylene oxide hydrolysis to ethanediol.

The B3LYP/6-311+G(d,p) description is employed to study the heterolytic ring opening mechanisms under microsolvation conditions for ethylene oxide in acidic, neutral, and alkaline environments. In acid and alkaline media, a concerted trans S(N)2 reaction is strongly favored as compared to the corresponding cis reaction. The importance of the nucleophile, water in acidic media and hydroxide ion in alkaline media, for lowering the activation enthalpy is emphasized and activation energies of approximately 80 and approximately 60 kJ mol(-1) are obtained under acid and alkaline conditions, respectively. Under neutral conditions, the trans S(N)2 mechanism becomes inaccessible because it invokes the formation of a transient H+ and OH- pair across the 1,2-ethanediol molecule. Rather, epoxide ring opening is achieved by hydrolysis of a single water molecule. The latter mechanism displays significantly greater activation enthalpy (205 kJ mol(-1)) than those in acid and alkaline environments. This is in agreement with experiment. Product distributions of simple olefins in neutral aqueous media, as well as the detrimental impact of acid/base conditions for the selectivity of epoxidation catalysts in aqueous media, are discussed.