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Updated: May 1, 2026

Developing Photosensitizer-Cobaloxime Hybrids for Solar-Driven H2 Production in Aqueous Aerobic Conditions
Published on: October 5, 2019
Artificial photosynthesis--functional devices for light driven water splitting with photoactive anodes based on
Yan Gao1, Linlin Zhang, Xin Ding
1State Key Laboratory of Fine Chemicals, Institute of Artificial Photosynthesis, DUT-KTH Joint Education and Research Center on Molecular Devices, Dalian University of Technology (DUT), Dalian 116024, China. dr.gaoyan@dlut.edu.cn.
Abstract:
Photoactive anodes consisting of Ru(bpy)3 type photosensitizer 1 and molecular catalysts 2 and 3 on nanostructured TiO2 have been assembled in functional devices for successful light driven water splitting. From their performance measurements we found that the photoanode TiO2(1 + 3) in which the molecular ruthenium catalyst and the phosphonate anchoring group are linked by a flexible –CH2CH2CH2– chain showed a significantly higher photocurrent density than the photoanode TiO2(1 + 2) with only –CH2– linkage. The possible reasons for the different water splitting performance of otherwise identical devices are discussed.
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