Three-Channel Electron Transfer for Estimating Time Constants Correlated with Photocatalytic Photon Utilization

Although the potential barrier for semiconductor-cocatalyst interfacial electron transfer can be reduced by intensifying the irradiation, the photocatalytic reaction still suffers from a low photon utilization. We here propose a trichannel electron transfer model to demonstrate that the photogenerated oxidative intermediates deprive electrons from the photocatalyst and compete with the target reaction. This model can evaluate the time constant for each electronic process involved in the target reaction and predict photocatalytic photon utilization, which is closely related to the evolution of the oxidative intermediates.