New Delhi, May 5
Researchers from the Jawaharlal Nehru Centre for Advanced Scientific Research (JNCASR) Bengaluru (an autonomous institution under the Department of Science and Technology) develop a novel, cost-effective, metal-free porous organic catalyst for efficient production of Hydrogen (H2) by harvesting mechanical energy.
The team developed the metal-free donor-acceptor-based covalent-organic framework (COF) for piezocatalytic water splitting.
Piezocatalysis has emerged as a promising catalytic technology that harvests mechanical perturbations with a piezoelectric material to generate charge carriers that are utilised to catalyse water splitting.
The study, published in the journal Advanced Functional Materials, demonstrates a COF built from imide linkages between organic donor molecule tris(4-aminophenyl) amine (TAPA) and acceptor molecule pyromellitic dianhydride (PDA) acceptor exhibiting unique ferrielectric (FiE) ordering, which showed efficient piezocatalytic activity for water splitting to produce H2.
“The discovery breaks the traditional notion of solely employing heavy or transition metal-based ferroelectric (FE) materials as piezocatalysts for catalysing water splitting reactions,†said the team led by Professor Tapas K. Maji from the Chemistry and Physics of Materials Unit.
Conventional FE materials have limited charges confined at the surface only which usually leads to quick saturation of their piezocatalytic activity.
Using a simple donor molecule like TAPA and an acceptor molecule like PDA, Prof. Maji and his team built a COF system that has strong charge transfer properties, which creates dipoles (separation between positive and negative charges).
The TAPA units have a unique propeller-like shape, where their benzene rings twist and tilt to break the flat symmetry of the structure, helping it reach a more stable, lower-energy state.
Using theoretical analyses the team showed that COF has an unusual electronic structure with energy bands that couple and resonate with each other by dipolar ordering. This causes instability in the lattice structure, leading to FiE ordering. These FiE dipoles interact with flexible twisting molecular motion in the material, making them responsive to mechanical pressure.
The utilisation of a cost-effective, metal-free system with a high production rate of H2 by harvesting mechanical energy opens up a new route to green H2 based on porous heterogeneous catalysts, said the team.
— IANS
Reader Comments
This is brilliant! 🇮🇳 Indian scientists proving again why we're leaders in sustainable tech. Metal-free solution means cheaper production - exactly what we need for affordable clean energy. JNCASR making us proud!
The propeller-like molecular structure is fascinating! But I wonder - how scalable is this technology? We've seen many lab successes that struggle in real-world applications. Hope this gets proper funding and industry support.
Mechanical energy to hydrogen? This could be game-changing for rural India where electricity is unreliable. Imagine village water mills producing clean fuel! Kudos to Prof. Maji's team for thinking outside the box.
As a chemistry student, I'm amazed by the FiE ordering concept. But the article is quite technical - could someone explain in simpler terms how this compares to existing hydrogen production methods? 🤔
Excellent work, but we need faster commercialization. China is already leading in hydrogen tech. Our scientists make breakthroughs, but by the time implementation happens, others catch up. Govt should create special fast-track policies for such innovations.
The environmental benefits could be huge! No heavy metals means less pollution. Hope this research gets attention at COP meetings. India should patent this technology before others replicate it.
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