Photoactive materials for buildings
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Date
2013-11-19
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Since the intertwining of light and electron transfer enables life on the planet, it is no surprise that the
same phenomenon can serve to empower materials[1] for service in the built environment. The
inexpensive generation of electrical power from sunlight in a distributed manner will probably
become possible with photoelectrochemical cells embedded in windows. From a chemical viewpoint,
1 can undergo photoinduced electron transfer (PET) with TiO2 and the resulting 1.+ can undergo
further electron transfer with electrochemical relay I-, when the thermodynamic conditions are
considered (Fig. 1). However, the efficiency of charge separation following PET in this and related
cases is attributable to the nanostructured TiO2 matrix on which 1 is bound [2]. For instance, the
electric current generation efficiency in sunlight is around 1000-fold higher for 1 in nanostructured
TiO2 than on a chosen face of single-crystal TiO2 in its anatase form[3]. Besides the hugely increased
surface area of this matrix (c.f. the single-crystal), it also avoids charge-depletion layers and local
electric fields near the particles. Some of these window-cells will probably be adaptable to selfcleaning
tasks as well, since photoelectrochemical cells are able to decompose organic compounds via
redox processes [4].