Could the Pt|TiO2 nanoparticles sensitised with perylene diimide derivatives be a solution for green hydrogen production from water? Małgorzata Rybczynska 1,2 * , Karol Kozakiewicz 1,2 , Estera Hoffman 2 , Piotr Bojarsk 2 , Illia Serdiuk 2 1 University of Gdańsk, Faculty of Chemistry, W. Stwosza 63, 80-308 Gdańsk, Poland, 2 University of Gdańsk, Faculty of Mathematics, Physics and Informatics, W. Stwosza 57, 80-308 Gdańsk, Poland *Email: malgorzata.rybczynska@phdstud.ug.edu.pl (M.R) The role of renewable energy sources in global energy becomes significant. According to the European Green Deal, hydrogen energy is one of the pillars of the energy sector of the next generation. This initiative aims to make the EU climate-neutral by 2050 [1] . “Green” production of hydrogen is however a challenging task. Among the limited number of renewable energy approaches, dye-sensitisation of metal oxides and/or metal photocatalysts is one of the most promising schemes to convert sunlight energy into H2 fuel. Such an approach enables effective light absorption and efficient charge separation for fuel production [2] . The key problem is that due to unsatisfactory charge separation such systems work only in the presence of a sacrificial electron donor (SED), which increases the cost of H2 and produces waste. In our research, to solve this problem we applied the molecular design strategy based on a strong electron donor-acceptor structure to induce charge separation during light absorption. To realize this approach, we explore photosensitizers based on perylene diimide (PDI) as an acceptor fragment combined with various electron donors. Such dyes have many favorable properties, such as intense visible light absorption, high stability, and, most importantly, charge separation due to the formation of charge transfer states under excitation [3] . Proper adjustment of an anchor group to the PDI fragment enabled an electron to transfer from excited PDI to the platinized TiO2 nanoparticles as a catalyst [4] . Thus, photocatalytic systems were irradiated with a solar simulator, and the amount of produced hydrogen was measured by gas chromatography affording a TON number. Our results indicate that dye-sensitised photocatalysts in water can produce H2 even without a sacrificial electron donor [5] . Regarding the above-mentioned, I will present the results of research on the Pt|TiO2|PDI systems and their photocatalytic efficiency for H2 production. I also will try to answer the title question. Acknowledgements. This research was financed by the National Centre for Research and Development (NCBR), Poland. References 1. Wolf, A., Zander, N. Green Hydrogen in Europe: Do Strategies Meet Expectations?. Intereconomics 56, 316–323 (2021). 2. Warnan, J., Willkomm, J., Farré, Y., Pellegrin, Y., Boujtita, M., Odobel, F., Reisner, E. Solar electricity and fuel production with perylene monoimide dye-sensitised TiO2 in water. Chemical Science 10, 2758–66 (2019). 3. Huang, C., Barlow, S., Marder, S. Perylene-3,4,9,10-tetracarboxylic Acid Diimides: Synthesis, Physical Properties, and Use in Organic Electronics. Journal of Organic Chemistry 76, 2386–2407 (2011). 4. Zani, L., Melchionna, M., Montini, T., Fornasiero, P. Design of Dye-Sensitized TiO2 Materials for Photocatalytic Hydrogen Production: Light and Shadow. Journal of Physics: Energy 3, 031001 (2021). 5. Pellegrin, Y., Odobel, F. Sacrificial electron donor reagents for solar fuel production. Comptes Rendus Chimie 20(3), 283–295 (2017).
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