Subphthalocyanine-sensitized TiO2 photocatalyst for photoelectrochemical and photocatalytic hydrogen evolution

Dalton Trans. 2020 Sep 22;49(36):12550-12554. doi: 10.1039/d0dt02565h.

Abstract

A series of SubPcs comprising a carboxylic acid anchoring group at the peripheral (SubPcs 1, 2) or axial position (SubPc 3) were synthesized and used as sensitizers for photocatalytic H2 production, for the first time. SubPc 3/TiO2 shows the best photocatalytic activity with a hydrogen evolution rate of 1396 μmol h-1, which is much higher than that of SubPcs 1 and 2 (771 and 658 μmol g-1, respectively). This work clearly shows that considering their optical and redox properties, SubPcs are promising candidates for light-driven water splitting systems.