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Updated: Aug 7, 2025

Developing Photosensitizer-Cobaloxime Hybrids for Solar-Driven H2 Production in Aqueous Aerobic Conditions
Published on: October 5, 2019
Efficient Hydrogen Production by a Photoredox Cascade Catalyst Comprising Dual Photosensitizers and a Transparent
Nobutaka Yoshimura1, Masaki Yoshida2, Atsushi Kobayashi1
1Department of Chemistry, Faculty of Science, Hokkaido University, North-10 West-8, Kita-ku, Sapporo 060-0810, Japan.
Abstract:
One-directional electron transport between a photocatalyst and redox mediator is crucial for achieving highly active Z-scheme water-splitting photocatalysis. Herein, a photoredox cascade catalyst that artificially mimics the electron transport chain in natural photosynthesis was synthesized from a Pt-TiO2 nanoparticle catalyst, two photosensitizers (RuCP and RuP), and a visible-light-transparent electron mediator (HCRu). During photocatalytic hydrogen evolution in the presence of a redox-reversible electron donor, [Co(bpy)3]2+ (bpy = 2,2'-bipyridine), the HCRu-Zr-RuCP-Zr-RuP@Pt-TiO2 (PRCC-1) photocatalyst exhibited the highest reported initial (1 h) apparent quantum yield (iAQY = 2.23%) of dye-sensitized TiO2 photocatalysts to date. Furthermore, PRCC-1 successfully produced hydrogen when using hydroquinone monosulfonate (H2QS-) as the hydrogen source.
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