Phenanthroline-Mediated Photoelectrical Enhancement in Calix[4]arene-Functionalized Titanium-Oxo Clusters
Jinle Hou,
Chen Huang,
Yuxin Liu,
Pengfei Fei,
Dongxu Zhang,
Konggang Qu,
Wenwen Zi,
Xianqiang Huang
Affiliations
Jinle Hou
Shandong Provincial Key Laboratory of Chemical Energy Storage and Novel Cell Technology, School of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Liaocheng University, Liaocheng 252000, China
Chen Huang
Shandong Provincial Key Laboratory of Chemical Energy Storage and Novel Cell Technology, School of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Liaocheng University, Liaocheng 252000, China
Yuxin Liu
Shandong Provincial Key Laboratory of Chemical Energy Storage and Novel Cell Technology, School of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Liaocheng University, Liaocheng 252000, China
Pengfei Fei
Shandong Provincial Key Laboratory of Chemical Energy Storage and Novel Cell Technology, School of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Liaocheng University, Liaocheng 252000, China
Dongxu Zhang
Shandong Provincial Key Laboratory of Chemical Energy Storage and Novel Cell Technology, School of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Liaocheng University, Liaocheng 252000, China
Konggang Qu
Shandong Provincial Key Laboratory of Chemical Energy Storage and Novel Cell Technology, School of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Liaocheng University, Liaocheng 252000, China
Wenwen Zi
Shandong Provincial Key Laboratory of Chemical Energy Storage and Novel Cell Technology, School of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Liaocheng University, Liaocheng 252000, China
Xianqiang Huang
Shandong Provincial Key Laboratory of Chemical Energy Storage and Novel Cell Technology, School of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Liaocheng University, Liaocheng 252000, China
Incorporating two organic ligands with different functionalities into a titanium-oxo cluster entity simultaneously can endow the material with their respective properties and provide synergistic performance enhancement, which is of great significance for enriching the structure and properties of titanium-oxo clusters (TOCs). However, the synthesis of such TOCs is highly challenging. In this work, we successfully synthesized a TBC4A-functionalized TOC, [Ti2(TBC4A)2(MeO)2] (Ti2; MeOH = methanol, TBC4A = tert-butylcalix[4]arene). By adjusting the solvent system, we successfully introduced 1,10-phenanthroline (Phen) and prepared TBC4A and Phen co-protected [Ti2(TBC4A)2(Phen)2] (Ti2-Phen). Moreover, when Phen was replaced with bulky 4,7-diphenyl-1,10-phenanthroline (Bphen), [Ti2(TBC4A)2(Bphen)2] (Ti2-Bphen), which is isostructural with Ti2-Phen, was obtained, demonstrating the generality of the synthetic method. Remarkably, Ti2-Phen demonstrates good stability and stronger light absorption, as well as superior photoelectric performance compared to Ti2. Density functional theory (DFT) calculations reveal that there exists ligand-to-core charge transfer (LCCT) in Ti2, while an unusual ligand-to-ligand charge transfer (LLCT) is present in Ti2-Phen, accompanied by partial LCCT. Therefore, the superior light absorption and photoelectric properties of Ti2-Phen are attributed to the existence of the unusual LLCT phenomenon. This study not only deeply explores the influence of Phen on the performance of the material but also provides a reference for the preparation of materials with excellent photoelectric performance.
