Photoelectrochemical Generation of Hydrogen from Water Using a CdSe Quantum Dot-Sensitized Photocathode

The present study reports photelectrochemical H2 evolution using a water-solubilized S3-cap-CdSe quantum dot-sensitized NiO as the photocathode and either [Co­(bdt)2]− (bdt =1,2-benzenedithiolate) or Ni­(DHLA) x (DHLA= the anion of dihydrolipoic acid) complex as the H2-forming catalyst. The NiO-S3-cap-CdSe/[Co­(bdt)2]− system produces H2 with a turnover frequency of 3000 per CdSe mol·h. Faradaic efficiency for this system is essentially quantitative. Both systems are stable for more than 16 h.