Visible light induced cleavage of water into hydrogen and oxygen in colloidal and microheterogeneous systems.

This review departs from a discussion of some basic features of light-induced electron transfer reactions in solutions. Particular emphasis is placed on charge separation and kinetic control of the events by organized molecular assemblies such as micelles and vesicles. Subsequently, we describe some fundamental aspects of redox catalysis with colloidal dispersions of noble metals and their oxides. The application of these concepts to the problem of hydrogen and oxygen production from water by visible light is illustrated. Detailed analysis is made of methods to obtain highly active and selective catalysts, and the performance of bifunctional redox catalysts in cyclic water cleavage systems by visible light is described. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]