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Updated: Mar 16, 2026

Developing Photosensitizer-Cobaloxime Hybrids for Solar-Driven H2 Production in Aqueous Aerobic Conditions
Published on: October 5, 2019
Unraveling a Single-Step Simultaneous Two-Electron Transfer Process from Semiconductor to Molecular Catalyst in a
Yuxing Xu1,2,3, Yun Ye1,2,3, Taifeng Liu1,2,3
1State Key Laboratory of Catalysis, Dalian Institute of Chemical Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences , Dalian National Laboratory for Clean Energy, Dalian 116023, China.
Abstract:
Electron transfer processes from semiconductor to molecular catalysts was studied in a model hybrid photocatalytic hydrogen evolution system composed of [Co((III))(dmgH)2PyCl] (CoPy) and CdS under different pH conditions. Thermodynamic and kinetic studies revealed that photocatalytic H2 evolution under high pH conditions (pH 13.5) can only account for the thermodynamically more favorable single-step simultaneous two-electron transfer from photoirradiated CdS to Co(III)Py to produce unavoidable intermediate Co(I)Py, rather than a two-step successive one-electron transfer process. This finding not only provides new insight into the charge transfer processes between semiconductors and molecular catalysts but also opens up a new avenue for the assembly and optimization of semiconductor-molecular catalyst hybrid systems processed through multielectron transfer processes.
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