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Updated: Jul 31, 2025

Developing Photosensitizer-Cobaloxime Hybrids for Solar-Driven H2 Production in Aqueous Aerobic Conditions
Published on: October 5, 2019
An efficient electron donor containing a silicon heteroatom for organic photocatalysts with high hydrogen production
Changzhi Han1, Sihui Xiang1, Xiaolong Feng1
1Key Laboratory for Macromolecular Science of Shaanxi Province, Shaanxi Engineering Laboratory for Advanced Energy Devices, School of Materials Science and Engineering, Shaanxi Normal University, Xi'an, Shaanxi 710062, P. R. China. chongzhangabc@snnu.edu.cn.
Abstract:
We report here 4,4-bis(2-ethylhexyl)-4H-silolo[3,2-b:4,5-b']dithiophene (SiDT) as an electron donor to construct a donor-acceptor type conjugated polymer (PSiDT-BTDO) photocatalyst with a narrow band gap by employing dibenzo[b,d]thiophene-S,S-dioxide as an electron acceptor. The resulting polymer PSiDT-BTDO could realize a high hydrogen evolution rate of 72.20 mmol h-1 g-1 under ultraviolet-visible light with a Pt co-catalyst, due to the enhanced hydrophilicity as well as the decreased recombination rate of photo-induced holes/electrons and the dihedral angles of the polymer chains. The high photocatalytic activity of PSiDT-BTDO reveals the promising application of the SiDT donor in designing high-performance organic photocatalysts for hydrogen evolution.
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