UCL Discovery
UCL home » Library Services » Electronic resources » UCL Discovery

Covalent grafting of molecular catalysts on C₄NₓH_{y} as robust, efficient and well-defined photocatalysts for solar fuel synthesis

Windle, CD; Wieczorek, A; Xiong, L; Sachs, M; Bozal-Ginesta, C; Cha, H; Cockcroft, JK; ... Tang, J; + view all (2020) Covalent grafting of molecular catalysts on C₄NₓH_{y} as robust, efficient and well-defined photocatalysts for solar fuel synthesis. Chemical Science 10.1039/d0sc02986f. (In press). Green open access

[thumbnail of d0sc02986f.pdf]
Preview
Text
d0sc02986f.pdf - Published Version

Download (1MB) | Preview

Abstract

The covalent attachment of molecules to 2D materials is an emerging area as strong covalent chemistry offers new hybrid properties and greater mechanical stability compared with nanoparticles. A nickel bis-aminothiophenol catalyst was grafted onto a range of 2D carbon nitrides C₄NₓH_{y} to form noble metal-free photocatalysts for H2 production. The hybrids produce H_{2} beyond 8 days with turnover numbers reaching 1360 based on nickel, a more than 3 fold higher durability than reported molecular catalyst-carbon nitride mixtures, and under longer wavelengths (>475 nm). Time-resolved spectroscopy reveals sub-microsecond electron transfer to the grafted catalyst, six orders of magnitude faster compared with similar reports of non-grafted catalysts. The photoelectrons on the catalyst have a ca. 1000 times longer half-time (7 ms) compared with bare carbon nitride (10 μs). The grafting strategy operates across a range of molecular catalyst-carbon nitride combinations, thus paving the way for robust efficient photocatalysts based on low-cost tunable components.

Type: Article
Title: Covalent grafting of molecular catalysts on C₄NₓH_{y} as robust, efficient and well-defined photocatalysts for solar fuel synthesis
Open access status: An open access version is available from UCL Discovery
DOI: 10.1039/d0sc02986f
Publisher version: https://doi.org/10.1039/D0SC02986F
Language: English
Additional information: © The Royal Society of Chemistry 2020. This article is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Unported Licence (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/).
UCL classification: UCL
UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > UCL BEAMS
UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > UCL BEAMS > Faculty of Engineering Science
UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > UCL BEAMS > Faculty of Engineering Science > Dept of Chemical Engineering
UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > UCL BEAMS > Faculty of Maths and Physical Sciences
UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > UCL BEAMS > Faculty of Maths and Physical Sciences > Dept of Chemistry
URI: https://discovery.ucl.ac.uk/id/eprint/10106725
Downloads since deposit
36Downloads
Download activity - last month
Download activity - last 12 months
Downloads by country - last 12 months

Archive Staff Only

View Item View Item