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Tunable organic photocatalysts for visible-light-driven hydrogen evolution

Sprick, RS; Jiang, JX; Bonillo, B; Ren, S; Ratvijitvech, T; Guiglion, P; Zwijnenburg, MA; ... Cooper, AI; + view all (2015) Tunable organic photocatalysts for visible-light-driven hydrogen evolution. J Am Chem Soc , 137 (9) 3265 - 3270. 10.1021/ja511552k. Green open access

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Abstract

Photocatalytic hydrogen production from water offers an abundant, clean fuel source, but it is challenging to produce photocatalysts that use the solar spectrum effectively. Many hydrogen-evolving photocatalysts are active in the ultraviolet range, but ultraviolet light accounts for only 3% of the energy available in the solar spectrum at ground level. Solid-state crystalline photocatalysts have light absorption profiles that are a discrete function of their crystalline phase and that are not always tunable. Here, we prepare a series of amorphous, microporous organic polymers with exquisite synthetic control over the optical gap in the range 1.94-2.95 eV. Specific monomer compositions give polymers that are robust and effective photocatalysts for the evolution of hydrogen from water in the presence of a sacrificial electron donor, without the apparent need for an added metal cocatalyst. Remarkably, unlike other organic systems, the best performing polymer is only photoactive under visible rather than ultraviolet irradiation.

Type: Article
Title: Tunable organic photocatalysts for visible-light-driven hydrogen evolution
Location: United States
Open access status: An open access version is available from UCL Discovery
DOI: 10.1021/ja511552k
Publisher version: http://dx.doi.org/10.1021/ja511552k
Language: English
Additional information: Copyright © 2015 American Chemical Society. This is an open access article published under a Creative Commons Attribution (CC-BY) License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution and reproduction in any medium, provided the author and source are cited.
UCL classification: UCL
UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > UCL BEAMS
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/1467703
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