Adenine-functionalized conjugated polymer as an efficient photocatalyst for hydrogen evolution from water

Impact of Interfaces, and Nanostructure on the Performance of Conjugated Polymer Photocatalysts for Hydrogen Production from Water

“…Beyond oligo(ethylene glycol) side-chains, further examples have emerged in the literature which have hydrophilic functional groups directly attached to the side-chains of conjugated polymers. Recently, adenine groups anchored at the end of alkyl side-chains of conjugated polymers have been reported for sacrificial photocatalytic hydrogen production [ 98 , 99 ]: Spirobifluorene-based conjugated polymer networks were made to induce porosity in the material; one incorporating a fluorene monomer with di- n -hexyl side-chains at the bridgehead carbon atom as the monomeric partner, named PF6-SF; and one incorporating a fluorine monomer with adenine groups covalently anchored to the end of the hexyl side-chains as the monomeric partner, named PF6-SFA ( Figure 13 ).…”

“…Indeed, a remarkable increase is observed in the photocatalytic hydrogen evolution rate (17.46 mmol h −1 g −1 for PF6-SFA vs. 0.59 mmol h −1 g −1 for PF6-SF using >400 nm filter and a 1:1:3 TEA/MeOH/H 2 O solution, no addition of Pt cocatalyst) [ 98 ]. A related study incorporates the dibenzo[ b , d ]thiophene sulfone unit as opposed to the spirobifluorine unit to induce polarity on the aromatic core and conducts the same study, in which the polymer involving the adenine groups anchored on the side-chains results in a sacrificial photocatalytic hydrogen evolution rate of 21.93 mmol h −1 g −1 [ 99 ].…”

“… Structures of adenine substituted conjugated polymers for sacrificial hydrogen production from water [ 98 , 99 ]. …”

Delicately Regulating the π-Spacer of D−π–A-Conjugated Polymers for Improved Visible-Light-Driven Hydrogen Evolution

“…Hydrogen, as a carbon-free energy with a high combustion heat value, has been identified as one of the most promising fuels to address the issues of ever-worse environmental pollution and the tremendous reliance on fossil fuels. − Photocatalytic water splitting using semiconductor photocatalysts has emerged as a valuable technique for producing hydrogen gas by converting solar energy to chemical energy. − Inorganic semiconductor photocatalysts have been rapidly developed for photocatalytic hydrogen evolution since the discovery of TiO 2 photocatalysts because of their appropriate electronic architectures and high activity. − However, the challenge still exists on achieving high photocatalytic activity for inorganic photocatalysts due to their weak absorption capability for visible light. , Recently, organic polymer semiconductors have gained a growing interest due to their diverse synthetic methods, tunable electronic structures, and the facile functionalization of the polymer skeletons, which significantly affect their photocatalytic activities. − To far, numerous polymeric photocatalysts for hydrogen evolution have been developed, mostly consisting of linear conjugated polymers, , covalent organic frameworks, − graphitic carbon nitride polymers (g-C 3 N 4 ), , conjugated microporous polymers (CMPs), , and covalent triazine frameworks. , …”

“…14,15 Recently, organic polymer semiconductors have gained a growing interest due to their diverse synthetic methods, tunable electronic structures, and the facile functionalization of the polymer skeletons, which significantly affect their photocatalytic activities. 16−19 To far, numerous polymeric photocatalysts for hydrogen evolution have been developed, mostly consisting of linear conjugated polymers, 20,21 covalent organic frameworks, 22−24 graphitic carbon nitride polymers (g-C 3 N 4 ), 25,26 conjugated microporous polymers (CMPs), 27,28 and covalent triazine frameworks. 29,30 Recently, many studies have shown that constructing donor− acceptor (D−A) style polymer catalysts is an efficient approach to boost the performance of photocatalytic systems because the electron push−pull effect of the D−A heterojunction structure can successfully enhance the dissociation of photogenerated hole and electron pairs.…”