Answer the following about dye-sensitized solar cells, which were explicitly designed to mimic photosynthesis, for 10 points each.
[10e] The ruthenium dye in a solar cell replaces these green pigments that eject electrons when plants are exposed to sunlight.
ANSWER: chlorophylls [or chlorophyll a or chlorophyll b]
[10m] Solar cells recover the lost electrons by converting iodide ions at a minus-one oxidation state, to this non-integer oxidation state found in the an·ion tri·iodide, or I3− (“I three (pause) minus”).
ANSWER: -1/3 [or negative one-third; or one-third minus; or minus one-third; reject “one-third” by itself]
[10h] Dye-sensitized solar cells conduct electrons using nanoparticles containing this metal. This metal’s highly reflective dioxide is also useful for photocatalytic water splitting.
ANSWER: titanium [or titanium dioxide; or titania; or Ti]
<Adam Silverman, Science - Chemistry> ~20847~ <Editor: Adam Silverman>