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Zhang Y, Tian J, Shaikh H, MacKenzie HK, He Y, Zhao C, Lei S, Ren Y, Manners I. Tailored Energy Funneling in Photocatalytic π-Conjugated Polymer Nanofibers for High-Performance Hydrogen Production. J Am Chem Soc 2023; 145:22539-22547. [PMID: 37788384 DOI: 10.1021/jacs.3c07443] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 10/05/2023]
Abstract
The creation of artificial high-performance photosynthetic assemblies with a tailorable antenna system to deliver absorbed solar energy to a photosynthetic reaction center, thereby mimicking biological photosynthesis, remains a major challenge. We report the construction of recyclable, high-performance photosynthetic nanofibers with a crystalline π-conjugated polyfluorene core as an antenna system that funnels absorbed solar energy to spatially defined sensitized Co(II) porphyrin photocatalysts for the hydrogen evolution reaction. Highly effective energy funneling was achieved by tuning the dimensions of the nanofibers to exploit the very long exciton diffusion lengths (>200 nm) associated with the highly crystalline polyfluorene core formed using the living crystallization-driven self-assembly seeded growth method. This enabled efficient solar light-driven hydrogen production from water with a turnover number of over 450 for 8 h of irradiation, an H2 production rate of ca. 65 mmol h-1 g-1, and an overall quantum yield of 0.4% in the wavelength region (<405 nm) beyond the absorption of the molecular photocatalyst. The strategy of using a tailored antenna system based on π-conjugated polymers and maximizing exciton transport to a reaction center reported in this work opens up future opportunities for potential applications in other fields such as solar overall water splitting, CO2 reduction, and photocatalytic small molecule synthesis.
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Affiliation(s)
- Yifan Zhang
- Department of Chemistry, University of Victoria, Victoria, British Columbia V8W 3V6, Canada
- Key Laboratory of Photochemistry, CAS Research/Education Center for Excellence in Molecular Sciences, Institute of Chemistry, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100190, China
| | - Jia Tian
- Department of Chemistry, University of Victoria, Victoria, British Columbia V8W 3V6, Canada
- Key Laboratory of Synthetic and Self-Assembly Chemistry for Organic Functional Molecules, Center for Excellence in Molecular Synthesis, Shanghai Institute of Organic Chemistry, University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Chinese Academy of Sciences, 345 Lingling Road, Shanghai 200032, China
| | - Huda Shaikh
- Department of Chemistry, University of Victoria, Victoria, British Columbia V8W 3V6, Canada
| | - Harvey K MacKenzie
- Department of Chemistry, University of Victoria, Victoria, British Columbia V8W 3V6, Canada
| | - Yunxiang He
- School of Chemistry, University of Bristol, Bristol BS8 1TS, U.K
| | - Chuanqi Zhao
- Department of Chemistry, University of Victoria, Victoria, British Columbia V8W 3V6, Canada
| | - Shixing Lei
- Department of Chemistry, University of Victoria, Victoria, British Columbia V8W 3V6, Canada
| | - Yangyang Ren
- Key Laboratory of Photochemistry, CAS Research/Education Center for Excellence in Molecular Sciences, Institute of Chemistry, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100190, China
| | - Ian Manners
- Department of Chemistry, University of Victoria, Victoria, British Columbia V8W 3V6, Canada
- Centre for Advanced Materials and Related Technology (CAMTEC), University of Victoria, 3800 Finnerty Road, Victoria, British Columbia V8P 5C2, Canada
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Feskov SV, Malykhin RE, Ivanov AI. The Efficiency of Photoinduced Intramolecular Charge Separation from the Second Excited State: What Factors Can Control It? J Phys Chem B 2020; 124:10442-10455. [PMID: 33172263 DOI: 10.1021/acs.jpcb.0c07978] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/28/2022]
Abstract
The efficiency of photoinduced charge separation (CS) in electron donor-acceptor compounds is commonly limited due to fast deactivation processes, such as the excited-state internal conversion and ultrafast hot reverse electron transfer to the acceptor, charge recombination (CR). A traditional way to avoid undesired energy losses due to CR is to put the reverse electron transfer into the Marcus inverted region, thus effectively suppressing it. This method, however, is not generally applicable when considering CS from the second locally excited state because the driving force of CR to the first excited state is small, and thus charge recombination is ultrafast and efficient. In this paper, we study the kinetic features of CS/CR from the second locally excited state of the donor using a semiclassical stochastic model of electron transfer. Particular attention is paid to the CS efficiency as well as the influence of the polar environment and intramolecular high-frequency vibrational modes on the kinetics of the charge-separated state. The influence of a number of model parameters on the CS yield and the energy efficiency has been analyzed using the results of numerical simulations. Several simple practical recipes for creating molecular compounds with high CS yields have been suggested. Simulations have also revealed a strong and non-monotonous (double-humped) dependence of both the yield and energy efficiency of CS on the driving force.
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Affiliation(s)
- Serguei V Feskov
- Volgograd State University, University Avenue 100, Volgograd 400062, Russia
| | - Roman E Malykhin
- Volgograd State University, University Avenue 100, Volgograd 400062, Russia
| | - Anatoly I Ivanov
- Volgograd State University, University Avenue 100, Volgograd 400062, Russia
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Siplivy NB, Feskov SV, Ivanov AI. Quantum yield and energy efficiency of photoinduced intramolecular charge separation. J Chem Phys 2020; 153:044301. [PMID: 32752711 DOI: 10.1063/5.0013708] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/21/2023] Open
Abstract
Kinetics of photoinduced intramolecular charge separation (CS) and the ensuing ultrafast charge recombination (CR) in electron-donor-acceptor dyads are studied numerically, taking into account the excitation of charge-transfer active intramolecular vibrations and multiple relaxation time scales of the surrounding polar solvent. Both energetic and dynamic properties of intramolecular and solvent reorganization are considered, and their influence on the CS/CR kinetics and quantum yield of ultrafast CS is explored. Particular attention is paid to the energy efficiency of CS, as one of the most important parameters indicating the promise of using a molecular compound as a basis for emerging optoelectronic devices. The CS quantum yield and the energy efficiency of CS are shown to depend differently on the key model parameters. Necessary conditions for the highly efficient CS are evaluated using analytic formulae for the electron transfer rates and derived from numerical simulation data. The reasons why low-exergonic CS taking place in the Marcus normal region can be much slower than CR in the deep inverted region are discussed.
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Affiliation(s)
- Nickolay B Siplivy
- Department of Physics, Volgograd State University, University Avenue 100, Volgograd 400062, Russia
| | - Serguei V Feskov
- Department of Physics, Volgograd State University, University Avenue 100, Volgograd 400062, Russia
| | - Anatoly I Ivanov
- Department of Physics, Volgograd State University, University Avenue 100, Volgograd 400062, Russia
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Mikhailova TV, Mikhailova VA, Ivanov AI. Dynamic Solvent Effect in Reactions of Photoinduced Intramolecular Proton-Coupled Electron Transfer. RUSSIAN JOURNAL OF PHYSICAL CHEMISTRY A 2019. [DOI: 10.1134/s0036024419120215] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/23/2022]
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