How Iron Carbenes Store Energy from Sunlight -- and Why They Aren't Better at It (IMAGE)

DOE/SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory

How Iron Carbenes Store Energy from Sunlight -- and Why They Aren't Better at It

Caption

Experiments at SLAC showed that an inexpensive photosensitizer molecule, iron carbene, can respond in two competing ways when hit by light. Only one of those pathways (right) allows electrons to flow into devices or chemical reactions where they're needed. The molecules took this energy-producing path about 60% of the time.

Credit

Greg Stewart/SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory

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