Issue 10, 2021

Hydrogen evolution by polymer photocatalysts; a possible photocatalytic cycle

Abstract

We propose, supported by ab initio calculations, a possible photocatalytic cycle for hydrogen evolution by a prototypical polymer photocatalyst, poly(p-phenylene), in the presence of a sacrificial electron donor. As part of that cycle, we also introduce a family of related sites on the polymer that in the absence of a noble metal co-catalyst can facilitate the evolution of molecular hydrogen when the polymer is illuminated. The bottlenecks for hydrogen evolution, electron transfer from the sacrificial electron donor and hydrogen–hydrogen bond formation, are discussed, as well as how they could potentially be improved by tuning the polymer properties and how they change in the presence of a noble metal co-catalyst.

Graphical abstract: Hydrogen evolution by polymer photocatalysts; a possible photocatalytic cycle

Supplementary files

Article information

Article type
Paper
Submitted
12 jan 2021
Accepted
29 mar 2021
First published
30 mar 2021
This article is Open Access
Creative Commons BY license

Sustainable Energy Fuels, 2021,5, 2622-2632

Hydrogen evolution by polymer photocatalysts; a possible photocatalytic cycle

Andrew W. Prentice and M. A. Zwijnenburg, Sustainable Energy Fuels, 2021, 5, 2622 DOI: 10.1039/D1SE00059D

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