An organic polymer nano-photocatalyst has been developed for highly efficient light driven proton reduction.

For the first time, organic semiconducting polymer dots (Pdots) based on poly[(9,9'-dioctylfluorenyl-2,7-diyl)-co-(1,4-benzo-{2,1',3} thiadiazole)] (PFBT) and polystyrene grafting with carboxyl-group-functionalized ethylene oxide (PS-PEG-COOH) are introduced as a photocatalyst towards visible-light-driven hydrogen generation in a completely organic solvent-free system. With these organic Pdots as the photocatalyst, an impressive initial rate constant of 8.3 mmol h(-1)  g(-1) was obtained for visible-light-driven hydrogen production, which is 5-orders of magnitude higher than that of pristine PFBT polymer under the same catalytic conditions. Detailed kinetics studies suggest that the productive electron transfer quench of the excited state of Pdots by an electron donor is about 40 %. More importantly, we also found that the Pdots can tolerate oxygen during catalysis, which is crucial for further application of this material for light-driven water splitting.

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Developing low-temperature deNOx catalysts with high catalytic activity, SO2-tolerance and stability is highly desirable but remains challenging. Herein, by coating the mesoporous TiO2 layers on carbon nanotubes (CNTs)-supported MnOx and CeOx nanoparticles (NPs), we obtained a core-shell structural deNOx catalyst with high catalytic activity, good SO2-tolerance and enhanced stability. Transmission electron microscopy, X-ray diffraction, N2 sorption, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy, H2 temperature-programmed reduction and NH3 temperature-programmed desorption have been used to elucidate the structure and surface properties of the obtained catalysts. Both the specific surface area and chemisorbed oxygen species are enhanced by the coating of meso-TiO2 sheaths. The meso-TiO2 sheaths not only enhance the acid strength but also raise acid amounts. Moreover, there is a strong interaction among the manganese oxide, cerium oxide and meso-TiO2 sheaths. Based on these favorable properties, the meso-TiO2 coated catalyst exhibits a higher activity and more extensive operating-temperature window, compared to the uncoated catalyst. In addition, the meso-TiO2 sheaths can serve as an effective barrier to prevent the aggregation of metal oxide NPs during stability testing. As a result, the meso-TiO2 overcoated catalyst exhibits a much better stability than the uncoated one. More importantly, the meso-TiO2 sheaths can not only prevent the generation of ammonium sulfate species from blocking the active sites but also inhibit the formation of manganese sulfate, resulting in a higher SO2-tolerance. These results indicate that the design of a core-shell structure is effective to promote the performance of deNOx catalysts.

Solid state p-type dye-sensitized solar cells (p-ssDSCs) have been proposed and fabricated for the first time, using the organic dye P1 as the sensitizer on mesoporous NiO and phenyl-C61-butyric acid methyl ester (PCBM) as the electron conductor. The p-ssDSC has shown an impressive open circuit photovoltage of 620 mV. Femtosecond and nanosecond transient absorption spectroscopy has given evidence for sub-ps hole injection from the excited P1 to NiO, followed by electron transfer from P1˙(-) to PCBM.