Sensitization of Nanocrystalline Metal Oxides with a Phosphonate-Functionalized Perylene Diimide for Photoelectrochemical Water Oxidation with a CoO x Catalyst

• Published in: ACS applied materials & interfaces 2017-08, Vol.9 (33), p.27625-27637
• Main Authors: Kirner, Joel T, Finke, Richard G
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: alumina overlayer; cobalt oxide; CONDENSED MATTER PHYSICS, SUPERCONDUCTIVITY AND SUPERFLUIDITY; dye-sensitized photoelectrochemical cell; INORGANIC, ORGANIC, PHYSICAL, AND ANALYTICAL CHEMISTRY; NANOSCIENCE AND NANOTECHNOLOGY; perylene diimide; tin oxide; water oxidation catalysis
• ISSN: 1944-8244; 1944-8252
• DOI: 10.1021/acsami.7b05874

A planar organic thin film composed of a perylene diimide dye (N,N′-bis­(phosphonomethyl)-3,4,9,10-perylenediimide, PMPDI) with photoelectrochemically deposited cobalt oxide (CoO x ) catalyst was previously shown to photoelectrochemically oxidize water (DOI: 10.1021/am405598w). Herein, the same PMPDI dye is studied for the sensitization of different nanostructured metal oxide (nano-MO x ) films in a dye-sensitized photoelectrochemical cell architecture. Dye adsorption kinetics and saturation decreases in the order TiO2 > SnO2 ≫ WO3. Despite highest initial dye loading on TiO2 films, photocurrent with hydroquinone (H2Q) sacrificial reductant in pH 7 aqueous solution is much higher on SnO2 films, likely due to a higher driving force for charge injection into the more positive conduction band energy of SnO2. Dyeing conditions and SnO2 film thickness were subsequently optimized to achieve light-harvesting efficiency >99% at the λmax of the dye, and absorbed photon-to-current efficiency of 13% with H2Q, a 2-fold improvement over the previous thin-film architecture. A CoO x water-oxidation catalyst was photoelectrochemically deposited, allowing for photoelectrochemical water oxidation with a faradaic efficiency of 31 ± 7%, thus demonstrating the second example of a water-oxidizing, dye-sensitized photoelectrolysis cell composed entirely of earth-abundant materials. However, deposition of CoO x always results in lower photocurrent due to enhanced recombination between catalyst and photoinjected electrons in SnO2, as confirmed by open-circuit photovoltage measurements. Possible future studies to enhance photoanode performance are discussed, including alternative catalyst deposition strategies or structural derivatization of the perylene dye.