Science Daily August 30, 2023
Photoswitches are molecular systems that are chemically transformed after interaction with light and they find potential application in many new technologies. The design and discovery of photoswitch candidates require intricate molecular engineering of a range of properties to optimize a candidate to a specific application. An international team of researchers (Denmark, Spain) performed a large-scale screening of approximately half a million bicyclic diene photoswitches in the context of molecular solar thermal energy storage using ab initio quantum chemical methods. They devised an efficient strategy for scoring the systems based on their predicted solar energy conversion efficiency and elucidated potential pitfalls of this approach. Their search through the chemical space of bicyclic dienes revealed systems with unprecedented solar energy conversion efficiencies and storage densities that showed promising design guidelines for next generation molecular solar thermal energy storage systems… read more. Open Access TECHNICAL ARTICLEÂ
Graphical abstract. Credit: Angewandte Chemie International Edition, 25 July 2023Â