Organic Photovoltaic Catalyst with σ-π Anchor for High-Performance Solar Hydrogen Evolution

Yuanxin Liang; Tengfei Li; Yuhsuan Lee; Zhenzhen Zhang; Yawen Li; Wenqin Si; Zesheng Liu; Chuang Zhang; Yan Qiao; Shuming Bai; Yuze Lin

doi:10.1002/anie.202217989

Organic Photovoltaic Catalyst with σ-π Anchor for High-Performance Solar Hydrogen Evolution

Angew Chem Int Ed Engl. 2023 Mar 13;62(12):e202217989. doi: 10.1002/anie.202217989. Epub 2023 Feb 10.

Authors

Yuanxin Liang^{1

2}, Tengfei Li¹, Yuhsuan Lee^{1

2}, Zhenzhen Zhang^{1

2}, Yawen Li^{1

2}, Wenqin Si^{1

2}, Zesheng Liu^{1

2}, Chuang Zhang^{1

2}, Yan Qiao^{1

2}, Shuming Bai^{1

2}, Yuze Lin^{1

2}

Affiliations

¹ Beijing National Laboratory for Molecular Sciences, Laboratories of Organic Solids, Structural Chemistry of Unstable and Stable Species, Photochemistry, and Polymer Physics and Chemistry, Institute of Chemistry, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, 100190, China.
² University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, 100049, China.

PMID: 36700554
DOI: 10.1002/anie.202217989

Abstract

Efficient in situ deposition of metallic cocatalyst, like zero-valent platinum (Pt), on organic photovoltaic catalysts (OPCs) is the prerequisite for their high catalytic activities. Here we develop the OPC (Y6CO), by introducing carbonyl in the core, which is available to σ-π coordinate with transition metals, due to the high-energy empty π* orbital of carbonyl. Y6CO exhibits a stronger capability to anchor Pt species and reduce them to metallic state, resulting in more Pt⁰ deposition, relative to the control OPC without the central σ-π anchor. Single-component and heterojunction nanoparticles (NPs) employing Y6CO show enhanced average hydrogen evolution rates of 230.98 and 323.22 mmol h^-1 g_[OPC] ^-1 , respectively, under AM 1.5G, 100 mW cm^-2 for 10 h, and heterojunction NPs yield the external quantum efficiencies of ca. 10 % in 500-800 nm. This work demonstrates that σ-π anchoring is one efficient strategy for integrating metallic cocatalyst and OPC for high-performance photocatalysis.

Keywords: In Situ Photodeposition; Photocatalytic Hydrogen Evolution; Photovoltaic Catalyst; Solar Hydrogen; σ-π Coordination.

Abstract

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