Visible photoelectrochemical water splitting into H2 and O2 in a dye-sensitized photoelectrosynthesis cell.

ABSTRACT: A hybrid strategy for solar water splitting is exploited here based on a dye-sensitized photoelectrosynthesis cell (DSPEC) with a mesoporous SnO2/TiO2 core/shell nanostructured electrode derivatized with a surface-bound Ru(II) polypyridyl-based chromophore-catalyst assembly. The assembly, [(4,4'-(PO3H2)2bpy)2Ru(4-Mebpy-4'-bimpy)Ru(tpy)(OH2)](4+) ([Ru(a) (II)-Ru(b) (II)-OH2](4+), combines both a light absorber and a water oxidation catalyst in a single molecule. It was attached to the TiO2 shell by phosphonate-surface oxide binding. The oxide-bound assembly was further stabilized on the surface by atomic layer deposition (ALD) of either Al2O3 or TiO2 overlayers. Illumination of the resulting fluorine-doped tin oxide (FTO)|SnO2/TiO2|-[Ru(a) (II)-Ru(b) (II)-OH2](4+)(Al2O3 or TiO2) photoanodes

SUBMITTER: Alibabaei L 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC4434689 | biostudies-literature | 2015 May

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature