Issue 18, 2019

A fluorescent conjugated polymer photocatalyst based on Knoevenagel polycondensation for hydrogen production

Abstract

An organic polymer photocatalyst (p-P) was designed and synthesized through Knoevenagel condensation between terephthalaldehyde and p-phenylenediacetonitrile with a high yield. The orange p-P polymer could emit pink light at 629 nm under excitation at 371 nm with a luminescence quantum yield of 2.57%. A cellular structure stacked by irregular polymer blocks was found in the p-P polymer with a small BET surface area of about 48.4 m2 g−1. p-P polymer was thermally stable up to 400 °C and possessed high charge separation efficiency and low resistance in charge transportation. DFT calculation and electrochemical experimental results indicated that the reduction reaction of water over the polymer is thermodynamically feasible. p-P polymer could efficiently split water under visible light irradiation with a prominent H2 production rate of up to 96.7 μmol g−1 h−1 and a TON of about 22.0. Our work provides a new strategy to build multifunctional conjugated polymers for efficient photocatalysis.

Graphical abstract: A fluorescent conjugated polymer photocatalyst based on Knoevenagel polycondensation for hydrogen production

Supplementary files

Article information

Article type
Paper
Submitted
02 Apr 2019
Accepted
09 Apr 2019
First published
10 Apr 2019

New J. Chem., 2019,43, 7093-7098

A fluorescent conjugated polymer photocatalyst based on Knoevenagel polycondensation for hydrogen production

X. Cao, Y. Li, B. Liu, A. Gao, J. Cao, Y. Yu and X. Hei, New J. Chem., 2019, 43, 7093 DOI: 10.1039/C9NJ01686D

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