Larsen Lab

Inorganic and Supramolecular Photochemistry

Supramolecular Photochemistry

Artificial Photosynthesis

Biomimetic artificial photosynthesis requires light-induced long-range accumulative charge-separation within a single molecular entity/assembly. This ideal has yet to be realised in molecular systems, primarily due to inherent, highly efficient detrimental electron-transfer pathways that compete with productive electron-transfer pathways.

In these project, we explore new paradigms for energy/charge-transport at the molecular scale – particularly through the exploitation of non-covalent interactions and dynamic behaviour in supramolecular architectures.

Molecular Circuitry

The concept of molecular circuitry represents the extreme goal of device miniaturisation and introduces the possiblity of novel ‘future’ technologies, such as quantum information storage. In order to realise molecuar circuitry, exquisite control of electron-transfer pathways is required. However, photoinduced electron-transfer has traditionally been studied in only one-dimension – i.e. molecular wires.

In these projects, we explore synthetic control over eletron-transfer directionality at molecular junctions, as well as unidirectional electron-transfer in closed circuit-type molecules.