Publication date: 15th December 2025
The escalating global energy crisis, coupled with the urgent need to transition away from fossil fuels, has intensified the search for sustainable energy solutions. Photocatalytic water splitting—using sunlight, water, and a catalyst to generate hydrogen—represents a particularly promising approach to clean energy production. Yet this process faces a critical limitation: the formation of unwanted hydrogen peroxide (H₂O₂) byproducts due to uncontrolled radical spin states, severely compromising both efficiency and commercial viability.[1]
A breakthrough may lie in exploiting molecular chirality. Beyond its recognition since the 19th century, chirality has revealed a remarkable quantum mechanical property: chiral molecules can selectively filter electron spins through the chiral-induced spin selectivity (CISS) effect. This phenomenon opens an unprecedented pathway to controlling spin states in water splitting reactions, potentially eliminating problematic byproduct formation.[2]
Meanwhile, organic semiconductors (OSCs) have emerged as transformative materials across electronic applications, from transistors and OLEDs to flexible photovoltaics. Their appeal stems from tuneable electronic properties, mechanical flexibility, solution-based processing, and cost-effectiveness. Combining these advantages with chiral spin selectivity could revolutionize hydrogen production, creating efficient and scalable clean energy systems.[3]
This research presents the development of a novel chiral OSC that not only exhibits the desired CISS effect but also enables comprehensive analysis of OSC performance in water splitting applications. Through comparison with both achiral reference materials and racemic analogues, we demonstrate the unique advantages of chirality. Our results reveal a striking four-fold enhancement in current density—directly correlating to hydrogen evolution—when comparing our chiral OSC to non-chiral counterparts. This dramatic improvement demonstrates how incorporating chirality alone can achieve remarkable advances in water splitting efficiency. The enhancement stems from CISS-mediated spin control, enabling optimized catalytic pathways and substantially improved hydrogen generation for renewable energy applications.
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