Merging the chemistry of metal-organic and polyoxometalate clusters into an enhanced photocatalytic material

Abstract

Global energy consumption and concern with environmental contamination have led to an increased interest on the harvesting of solar energy to conduct chemical reactions that can provide cleaner sources of energy and raw materials or even neutralize hazardous chemicals. The combination of a zirconium metal-organic cluster and a Keggin type polyoxotungstate into a compound of formula [Zr6(µ3-O)4(µ3-OH)4(µ-OOCC6H5)8(H2O)8][SiW12O40] led to a chemically and photochemically stable material in which a