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Tuning Thiophene‐Based Phenothiazines for Stable Photocatalytic Hydrogen Production
Author(s) -
Cecconi Bianca,
Manfredi Norberto,
Ruffo Riccardo,
Montini Tiziano,
RomeroOcaña Ismael,
Fornasiero Paolo,
Abbotto Alessandro
Publication year - 2015
Publication title -
chemsuschem
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 2.412
H-Index - 157
eISSN - 1864-564X
pISSN - 1864-5631
DOI - 10.1002/cssc.201501040
Subject(s) - thiophene , photocatalysis , catalysis , hydrogen production , photochemistry , phenothiazine , acceptor , chemistry , electrochemistry , materials science , organic chemistry , medicine , physics , electrode , pharmacology , condensed matter physics
Abstract Dibranched donor–(π–acceptor) 2 dyes, where phenothiazine is the donor core, cyanoacrylic acid is the acceptor/anchoring group, and π is represented by mono‐ and poly‐cyclic simple and fused thiophene derivatives, were tested as photosensitizers in the photocatalytic production of H 2 , in combination with a Pt/TiO 2 catalyst. The optical and electrochemical properties of the dyes were investigated, showing that careful design of the thiophene‐based π spacer afforded enhanced optical properties. In the H 2 production over 20 h, the new thiophene‐based sensitizers revealed improved stability after longer irradiation times and enhanced performances, in terms of H 2 production rates and light‐to‐fuel efficiencies, after an initial activation period, which were for the first time associated with enhanced stability under photocatalytic production of H 2 and the absence of critical dye degradation.