1 Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry and Centre for NanoScience Research Concordia University 7141 Sherbrooke Street West, Montreal, Quebec H4B 1R6, Canada.

Molecular Copper(I)-Copper(II) Photosensitizer-Catalyst Photoelectrode for Water Oxidation.

Inorg Chem. 2020 Sep 10; :

Authors: Singh Z, Donnarumma PR, Majewski MB

Abstract

Copper(II)-based electrocatalysts for water oxidation in aqueous solution have been studied previously, but photodriving these systems still remains a challenge. In this work, a bis(diimine)copper(I)-based donor-chromophore-acceptor system is synthesized and applied as the light-harvesting component of a photoanode. This molecular assembly was integrated onto a zinc oxide nanowire surface, and upon photoexcitation, chronoamperometric studies reveal that the integrated triad can inject electrons directly into the conduction band of zinc oxide, generating oxidizing equivalents that are then transferred to a copper(II) water oxidation catalyst in aqueous solution, yielding O2 from water with a Faradaic efficiency of 76%.

PMID: 32909755 [PubMed - as supplied by publisher]