Chair Professor Wonwoo Nam Becomes First in the World to Elucidate the Mechanism of Water Oxidation Reaction
- 작성처
- Date2024.02.26
- 8419
Chair Professor Wonwoo Nam Becomes First in the World to Elucidate the Mechanism of Water Oxidation Reaction
First ever discovery of the mechanism behind water oxidation reaction published in the prestigious journal Chem.
Following his receipt of the Research Award from the Alexander von Humboldt Foundation last December, Wonwoo Nam, a Chair Professor of Chemistry and Nanoscience at Ewha Womans University, became the first Korean researcher to be selected as an Einstein Visiting Fellow by the Berlin Einstein Foundation, an achievement that once again underscores his status as a world-class researcher.
The Humboldt Research Award, bestowed by the Alexander von Humboldt Foundation in Germany, recognizes scholars who have made significant contributions to the natural sciences, engineering, and the humanities. Recipients are awarded a prize of EUR 60,000 and invited to conduct research in Germany for one year in their area of interest. Einstein Visiting Fellows are selected by the Berlin Einstein Foundation, which was established in 2009 to promote science and research at an international level. Through the fellowship, Professor Wonwoo Nam will receive approximately KRW 1 billion won from the Einstein Foundation to lead a research project at Humboldt University in Berlin over the duration of three years from 2024. During this period, he will conduct research on “the development of green catalytic systems using metal catalysts in biomimetic research,” while mentoring PhD students and postdoctoral researchers.
For the past 30 years, Nam has been conducting research on the generation, reactivity, and reaction mechanism of oxygenase intermediates in the field of biomimetics, producing world-class findings in the field of oxygen chemistry. His work is particularly commended for revealing the structures of intermediates involved in oxygen activation within organisms, thus clarifying previously unexplained aspects of how living things utilize oxygen.
Moreover, the research team led by Nam has, for the first time in the world, elucidated the mechanism of water oxidation reaction, a major challenge in artificial photosynthesis. Their study, titled “Seeing the key intermediates in bioinspired nonheme iron complex-catalyzed water oxidation,” was published in Chem, a prestigious journal by Cell Press.
This study not only provides insights into the mechanism of water oxidation reaction but is expected to propel subsequent research aimed at enhancing energy conversion efficiency in the process of water oxidation to produce oxygen. The research identified highly reactive intermediates, such as iron(V)-oxo species, which could potentially be used to oxidize various organic compounds instead of water, thereby identifying a new source of fuel. The team anticipates that the use of this mechanism to create an efficient water oxidation system that utilizes natural light energy to generate oxygen could effectively supply both oxygen and energy for human consumption in future space environments.