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Research Interests and Projects in the Young Lab
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Proton-coupled electron transfer (PCET)
Management of charge transfer is at the heart of chemistry, physics and biology. In biological systems, charge transport occurs in proteins and peptides along well defined pathways. Charge balance must be maintained, meaning that movement of an electron along a pathway is coupled to shorter proton movements in a mechanism which has come to be known as proton-coupled electron transfer (PCET). Examples of PCET include the photo-induced oxidation of water to oxygen at the oxygen-evolving complex (OEC) of Photosystem II.
A primary goal of the Young Lab is the
design and study of model PCET systems that
can motivate further development of PCET
theory. Important design issues facing
mechanistic studies are the incorporation of
optical signatures for both ET and PT and a
means for tuning parameters within the PCET
system.
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Charge transfer in photovoltaic materials
The sun provides enough energy to the
Earth’s surface in one day to meet our
energy needs for an entire year. Thus,
harnessing the sun’s energy is an attractive
paradigm to help meet our energy needs using
a renewable energy source. The photovoltaic
effect represents the conversion of photons
into electrical power. PV cells are devices
that convert the sun’s light into
electricity. These devices show great
promise to supplement our energy supply and
represent an active area of research in
chemistry, materials science, electrical
engineering and physics.
Organic PVs present a significant advantage over Si-based solar cells in that they can be light weight, deposited on flexible substrates and are made of inexpensive materials. The focus of work in The Young lab will be to measure and understand kinetic processes on timescales at play in exciton generation and diffusion in organic heterojunction structures.
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Laser lab setup
The Young
lab will establish a sophisticated laser lab
in which we will take our time-resolved
absorption and emission measurements.
Initial experimental setup will take place
with Ti:sapphire oscillator system for
time-resolved photoluminescence
measurements. In time, we will incorporate a
regenerative amplifier laser system that
will be used for transient absorption
measurements. |
Publications:
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Young, E. R.; Rosenthal, J.; Nocera, D. G. “Energy transfer mediated by asymmetric hydrogen-bonded interfaces.” Chem. Sci. 2011, Advance Article.
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Young, E. R.;
Costi, R.; Paydavosi, S.; Nocera, D. G.;
Bulović, V. “Photo-assisted water oxidation with cobalt-based catalyst formed from thin-film cobalt metal on silicon photoanodes.” Energ &
Environ. Sci.
2011,
4, 2058-2061.
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Akselrod, G. M.; Tischler, J. R.;
Young, E. R.;
Nocera, D. G.; Bulović, V.; “Exciton-exciton
annihilation in organic polariton
microcavities.” Phys. Rev.B 2010,
32, 113106-1 - 113106-4. |
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Young, E. R.;
Nocera, D. G.; Bulović, V. “Direct formation
of a water oxidation catalyst from thin-film
cobalt.” Energ & Environ. Sci.
2010 3, 1726-1728.
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Young, E. R.;
Rosenthal, J.; Hodgkiss, J. M.; Nocera, D.
G. “A comparative PCET study of a
donor-acceptor pair linked by ionized and
non-ionized asymmetric hydrogen-bonded
interfaces.” J. Am. Chem. Soc. 2009 131, 7678-7684.
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Young, E. R.;
Rosenthal, J.; Nocera, D. G. “Spectral
observation of conversion between ionized
vs. non-ionized proton-coupled electron
transfer interfaces.” Chem. Comm.
2008, 20, 2322-2324. |
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Bachmann, J.;
Hodgkiss, J. M.; Young, E. R.; Nocera,
D. G. “Ground- and excited-state reactivity
of iron porphyrinogens.” Inorg. Chem.
2007, 46, 607-609. |
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Rosenthal, J.;
Young, E. R.; Nocera, D. G.
“Structurally homologous β - and
meso-alkynyl amidinium porphyrins.”
Inorg. Chem. 2007, 46,
8668-8675. |
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Rosenthal, J.;
Hodgkiss, J. M.; Young, E. R.; Nocera,
D. G. “Spectroscopic determination of proton
position in the proton-coupled electron
transfer pathways of donor-acceptor
supramolecule assemblies.” J. Am. Chem.
Soc. 2006, 128,
10474-10483. |
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Dunetz, J. R.;
Sandstrom, C.; Young, E. R.; Baker,
P.; Van Name, S. A.; Cathopolous, T.;
Fairman, R.; De Paula, J. C.; Åkerfeldt, K.
S. “Self-Assembling porphyrin-modified
peptides.” Org. Lett. 2005,
7, 2559-2561. |
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Schwab, A. D.;
Smith, D. E.; Rich, C. S.; Young, E. R.;
Smith, W. F.; De Paula, J. C. “Porphyrin
nanorods.” J. Phys. Chem. B 2003,
107, 11339-11345. |
Conference Presentations:
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Young, E. R.;
Costi, R.; Nocera, D. G.; Bulović, V.
poster presented
at the Gordon Research Conference: Renewable
Energy, Renewable Energy: Solar Fuels,
Ventura, CA. Jan, 2011
“Thin-film cobalt metal electrodes for
formation of cobalt-based water oxidation
catalyst (Co-Pi) and photo-assisted water
oxidation on a silicon photoanode” |
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Costi, R.;Young, E.
R.; Bulović, V.; Nocera, D. G.
poster presented
at the Gordon Research Conference: Renewable
Energy, Renewable Energy: Solar Fuels,
Ventura, CA. Jan, 2011
“Cobalt-based catalyst on protected low-bandgap
semiconductor photoanodes for visible-light
induced water oxidation” |
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Young, E. R.;
Nocera, D. G.; Bulović, V.
oral presentation at
the 240th ACS National Meeting, Boston, MA,
Aug., 2010
“Development of thin film cobalt metal anode
as scaffold and Co2+ source for
formation of cobalt-based water oxidation
catalyst” |
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Young, E. R.;
Rosenthal, J.; Nocera, D. G.
poster presented at the
Gordon Research Conference: Electron Donor
Acceptor Interactions, Newport, RI. July,
2008
“Positioning of asymmetric hydrogen-bonded
interfaces with respect to MLCT-excited
state localization mediates Dexter energy
transfer dynamics” |
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Young, E. R.;
Rosenthal, J.; Nocera, D. G.
oral presentation at
the 235th ACS National Meeting, New Orleans,
LA, April 2008
“Variation of the electron-transfer pathway
to modulate proton-coupled
electron transfer kinetics and kinetic
isotope effects” |
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Hodgkiss, J. M.;
Damrauer, N. H.; Young, E. R.;
Rosenthal, J.; Pressé, S.; Nocera, D. G.
poster presented
at the Gordon Research Conference: Renewable
Energy, Renewable Energy: Solar Fuels,
Ventura, CA. Jan, 2007
“PCET in hydrogen-bonded donor–acceptor
assemblies: Electronic coupling and the role
of proton Fluctuations”. |
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Hodgkiss, J. M.; Damrauer, N. H.; Young,
E. R.; Rosenthal, J.; Pressé, S.; Nocera,
D. G.
poster presented at the Gordon
Research Conference: Donor-Acceptor
Interactions, Salve Regina University, RI.
July, 2006
“PCET in hydrogen-bonded donor–acceptor
assemblies: Electronic coupling and the role
of proton fluctuations” |
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Rosenthal, J.; Young, E. R.; Hodgkiss,
J. M.; Nocera, D. G.
poster presented at the Gordon
Research Conference: Electron Donor Acceptor
Interactions, Newport, RI. July, 2006
“Spectroscopic determination of proton
position in the PCET pathways of
donor-acceptor supramolecule assemblies” |
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Sandstrom, C.; Young, E.; Baker, P.;
Dunetz, J.; Fairman, R.; Johnson, K.; de
Paula, J.; Akerfeldt, K.
poster presented at the 223th ACS
National Meeting, Orlando, FL, April 2002
“Novel porphyrin-peptide designs for
biomaterials research” |
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