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Originally published in Science Express on 31 July 2008
Science 22 August 2008:
Vol. 321. no. 5892, pp. 1072 - 1075
DOI: 10.1126/science.1162018
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Reports

In Situ Formation of an Oxygen-Evolving Catalyst in Neutral Water Containing Phosphate and Co2+

Matthew W. Kanan and Daniel G. Nocera*

The utilization of solar energy on a large scale requires its storage. In natural photosynthesis, energy from sunlight is used to rearrange the bonds of water to oxygen and hydrogen equivalents. The realization of artificial systems that perform "water splitting" requires catalysts that produce oxygen from water without the need for excessive driving potentials. Here we report such a catalyst that forms upon the oxidative polarization of an inert indium tin oxide electrode in phosphate-buffered water containing cobalt (II) ions. A variety of analytical techniques indicates the presence of phosphate in an approximate 1:2 ratio with cobalt in this material. The pH dependence of the catalytic activity also implicates the hydrogen phosphate ion as the proton acceptor in the oxygen-producing reaction. This catalyst not only forms in situ from earth-abundant materials but also operates in neutral water under ambient conditions.

Department of Chemistry, 6-335, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA 02139–4307, USA.

* To whom correspondence should be addressed. E-mail: nocera{at}mit.edu

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THIS ARTICLE HAS BEEN CITED BY OTHER ARTICLES:
Inaugural Article: Concerted proton-coupled electron transfers in aquo/hydroxo/oxo metal complexes: Electrochemistry of [OsII(bpy)2py(OH2)]2+ in water.
C. Costentin, M. Robert, J.-M. Saveant, and A.-L. Teillout (2009)
PNAS 106, 11829-11836
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