Visible-Light-Driven Hydrogen Evolution Using Planarized Conjugated Polymer Photocatalysts

Reiner Sebastian Sprick; Baltasar Bonillo; Rob Clowes; Pierre Guiglion; Nick J Brownbill; Benjamin J Slater; Frédéric Blanc; Martijn A Zwijnenburg; Dave J Adams; Andrew I Cooper

doi:10.1002/anie.201510542

Visible-Light-Driven Hydrogen Evolution Using Planarized Conjugated Polymer Photocatalysts

Angew Chem Int Ed Engl. 2016 Jan 26;55(5):1792-6. doi: 10.1002/anie.201510542. Epub 2015 Dec 22.

Authors

Affiliations

¹ Department of Chemistry and Centre for Materials Discovery, University of Liverpool, Crown Street, Liverpool, L69 7ZD, UK.
² Department of Chemistry, University College London, 20 Gordon Street, London, WC1H 0AJ, UK.
³ Stephenson Institute for Renewable Energy, University of Liverpool, Crown Street, Liverpool, L69 7ZD, UK.
⁴ Department of Chemistry and Centre for Materials Discovery, University of Liverpool, Crown Street, Liverpool, L69 7ZD, UK. d.j.adams@liverpool.ac.uk.
⁵ Department of Chemistry and Centre for Materials Discovery, University of Liverpool, Crown Street, Liverpool, L69 7ZD, UK. aicooper@liverpool.ac.uk.

Abstract

Linear poly(p-phenylene)s are modestly active UV photocatalysts for hydrogen production in the presence of a sacrificial electron donor. Introduction of planarized fluorene, carbazole, dibenzo[b,d]thiophene or dibenzo[b,d]thiophene sulfone units greatly enhances the H2 evolution rate. The most active dibenzo[b,d]thiophene sulfone co-polymer has a UV photocatalytic activity that rivals TiO2, but is much more active under visible light. The dibenzo[b,d]thiophene sulfone co-polymer has an apparent quantum yield of 2.3 % at 420 nm, as compared to 0.1 % for platinized commercial pristine carbon nitride.

Keywords: conjugated polymer; extended conjugation; photocatalysis; planarization; water splitting.

Publication types

Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

Grants and funding

321156/ERC_/European Research Council/International