A donor-chromophore-catalyst assembly for solar CO 2 reduction

We describe here the preparation and characterization of a photocathode assembly for CO reduction to CO in 0.1 M LiClO acetonitrile. The assembly was formed on 1.0 μm thick mesoporous films of NiO using a layer-by-layer procedure based on Zr(iv)-phosphonate bridging units. The structure of the Zr(iv) bridged assembly, abbreviated as NiO|-DA-RuCP -Re(i), where DA is the dianiline-based electron donor ( , , ', '-((CH ) PO H ) -4,4'-dianiline), RuCP is the light absorber [Ru((4,4'-(PO H CH ) -2,2'-bipyridine)(2,2'-bipyridine)) ] , and Re(i) is the CO reduction catalyst, Re ((4,4'-PO H CH ) -2,2'-bipyridine)(CO) Cl. Visible light excitation of the assembly in CO saturated solution resulted in CO reduction to CO. A steady-state photocurrent density of 65 μA cm was achieved under one sun illumination and an IPCE value of 1.9% was obtained with 450 nm illumination. The importance of the DA aniline donor in the assembly as an initial site for reduction of the RuCP excited state was demonstrated by an 8 times higher photocurrent generated with DA present in the surface film compared to a control without DA. Nanosecond transient absorption measurements showed that the expected reduced one-electron intermediate, RuCP , was formed on a sub-nanosecond time scale with back electron transfer to the electrode on the microsecond timescale which competes with forward electron transfer to the Re(i) catalyst at = 2.6 μs ( = 2.7 × 10 s ).