Gas Chromatography Analysis of CO2 Reduction Photocatalysis with Zinc Dipyrrin Complexes

• Main Author: Day, Alex
• Format: Others
• Published: Digital Commons @ East Tennessee State University 2019
• Subjects: GC; Gas Chromatography; CO2 Reduction; Photocatalysis; Dipyrrin; ZnDPY; Analytical Chemistry; Chemistry; Inorganic Chemistry; Physical Sciences and Mathematics
• Online Access: https://dc.etsu.edu/honors/498; https://dc.etsu.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1634&context=honors

Bis(1,3,7,9-tetramethyl-5-mesityldipyrrinato)zinc(II) (ZnDPY) was synthesized in the lab by the McCusker group and a procedure was created to analyze its ability as a photosensitizer, a molecule that provides the energy for the reaction to occur by capturing light energy and turning it into a form that can be used by the photocatalyst. While more work is needed, preliminary steps have been made to create a process that can analyze the amount of carbon monoxide produced by a photocatalytic CO2 reduction reaction with ZnDPY as the photosensitizer. Progress has been made via the setup of a reaction apparatus, targeted gas chromatography (GC) peak separation, and GC calibration. More work will need to be done in order to determine the optimal reaction mix to showcase the sensitizer’s potential.