Research projects

Currently, there is a growing interest in the development of sustainable energy sources alternative to the traditional use of fossil fuels. In this context, the main challenge of this project is the use of metal-organic frameworks (MOF) as heterogeneous photocatalysts for the production of solar fuels derived from CO₂ and H₂O. According to the project schedule, during this third year a series of materials based on UiO-66 (Zr) modified with cerium and/or titanium ions in the metal nodes have been prepared. The results obtained include the use of these materials as efficient photocatalysts to perform the decomposition of water into hydrogen and oxygen using visible light irradiation.

Specifically, the presence of cerium and titanium in the UiO-66 (Zr) material favors the photocatalytic activity of the process, a fact that can be explained by the increase in the lifetime of the charge separation during the photoexcitation of the MOF as evidenced from laser flash photolysis measurements. Furthermore, several UiO-67(Zr) materials containing in their structure a ruthenium complex as organic ligand and titanium or cerium ions in the metal nodes have been prepared. Preliminary photocatalytic experiments using these materials demonstrate the improvement of photocatalytic activity under irradiation with visible light. In addition to the UiO-66/67 materials, titanium MOFs such as MIL-125(Ti) -NH₂ have been modified with different co-catalysts. Titanium MOFs containing RuO_x nanoparticles have been the most efficient in promoting the CO₂ methanation reaction under visible light irradiation.