A Semiconductor-Mediator-Catalyst Artificial Photosynthetic System for Photoelectrochemical Water Oxidation

In fabricating an artificial photosynthesis (AP) electrode for water oxidation, we have devised a semiconductor-mediator-catalyst structure that mimics photosystem II (PSII). It is based on a surface layer of vertically grown nanorods of Fe₂ O₃ on fluorine doped tin oxide (FTO) electrodes with a carbazole mediator base and a Ru(II) carbene complex on a nanolayer of TiO₂ as a water oxidation co-catalyst. The resulting hybrid assembly, FTO|Fe₂ O₃ |-carbazole|TiO₂ |-Ru(carbene), demonstrates an enhanced photoelectrochemical (PEC) water oxidation performance compared to an electrode without the added carbaozle base with an increase in photocurrent density of 2.2-fold at 0.95 V vs. NHE and a negatively shifted onset potential of 500 mV. The enhanced PEC performance is attributable to carbazole mediator accelerated interfacial hole transfer from Fe₂ O₃ to the Ru(II) carbene co-catalyst, with an improved effective surface area for the water oxidation reaction and reduced charge transfer resistance.