Consecutive Charging of a Perylene Bisimide Dye by Multistep Low-Energy Solar-Light-Induced Electron Transfer Towards H2 Evolution

作者：Xu Yucheng; Zheng Jiaxin; Lindner, Joachim O.; Wen Xinbo; Jiang Nianqiang; Hu Zhicheng; Liu Linlin; Huang Fei; Wuerthner, Frank; Xie Zengqi^*

来源：Angewandte Chemie - International Edition, 2020, 59(26): 10363-10367.

DOI：10.1002/anie.202001231

• electron transfer
• hydrogen evolution
• nanoparticles
• perylene bisimides
• solar energy

A photocatalytic system containing a perylene bisimide (PBI) dye as a photosensitizer anchored to titanium dioxide (TiO2) nanoparticles through carboxyl groups was constructed. Under solar-light irradiation in the presence of sacrificial triethanolamine (TEOA) in neutral and basic conditions (pH 8.5), a reaction cascade is initiated in which the PBI molecule first absorbs green light, giving the formation of a stable radical anion (PBI.-), which in a second step absorbs near-infrared light, forming a stable PBI dianion (PBI2-). Finally, the dianion absorbs red light and injects an electron into the TiO2 nanoparticle that is coated with platinum co-catalyst for hydrogen evolution. The hydrogen evolution rates (HERs) are as high as 1216 and 1022 mu mol h(-1) g(-1) with simulated sunlight irradiation in neutral and basic conditions, respectively.