Electron Donor–Acceptor Interface of TPPS/PDI Boosting Charge Transfer for Efficient Photocatalytic Hydrogen Evolution

Abstract

Abstract Charge separation efficiency of photocatalysts is still the key scientific issue for solar‐to‐chemical energy conversion. In this work, an electron donor–acceptor (D‐A) interface with high charge separation between TPPS (tetra(4‐sulfonatophenyl)porphyrin) and PDI (perylene diimide) is successfully constructed for boosting photocatalytic H2 evolution. The TPPS/PDI with D‐A interface shows excellent photocatalytic H2 evolution rate of 546.54 µmol h–1 (30.36 mmol h–1 g–1), which is 9.95 and 9.41 times higher than that of pure TPPS and PDI, respectively. The TPPS/PDI has a markedly stronger internal electric field, which is respectively 3.76 and 3.01 times higher than that of pure PDI and TPPS. The D‐A interface with giant internal electric field efficiently facilitates charge separation and urges TPPS/PDI to have a longer excited state lifetime than single component. The work provides entirely new ideas for designing materials with D‐A interface to realize high photocatalytic activity.

Keywords

• charge separation
• electron transfer
• interfacial electric field
• photocatalytic hydrogen production
• TPPS/PDI