Self-Assembled One-Dimensional Porphyrin Nanostructures with Enhanced Photocatalytic Hydrogen Generation

Journal Article · Tue Dec 26 00:00:00 EST 2017 · Nano Letters

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1021/acs.nanolett.7b04701· OSTI ID:1472258

Zhang, Na ^[1]; Wang, Liang ^[1]; Wang, Haimiao ^[1]; Cao, Ronghui ^[1]; Wang, Jiefei ^[1]; Bai, Feng ^[1]; Fan, Hongyou  ^[2]

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1. Henan Univ., Kaifeng (China). Key Lab. for Special Functional Materials of the Ministry of Education. Collaborative Innovation Center of Nano Functional Materials and Applications
2. Univ. of New Mexico, Albuquerque, NM (United States). Dept. of Chemical and Biological Engineering; Sandia National Lab. (SNL-NM), Albuquerque, NM (United States)

There has been a widespread interest in the preparation of self-assembled porphyrin nanostructures and their ordered arrays, aiming to emulate natural light harvesting processes and energy storage and to develop new nanostructured materials for photocatalytic process. In this paper, we report controlled synthesis of one-dimensional porphyrin nanostructures such as nanorods and nanowires with well-defined self-assembled porphyrin networks that enable efficient energy transfer for enhanced photocatalytic activity in hydrogen generation. Preparation of these one-dimensional nanostructures is conducted through noncovalent self-assembly of porphyrins confined within surfactant micelles. X-ray diffraction and transmission electron microscopy results reveal that these one-dimensional nanostructures contain stable single crystalline structures with controlled interplanar separation distance. Optical absorption characterizations show that the self-assembly enables effective optical coupling of porphyrins, resulting in much more enhanced optical absorption in comparison with the original porphyrin monomers, and the absorption bands red shift to more extensive visible light spectrum. Finally, the self-assembled porphyrin network facilitates efficient energy transfer among porphyrin molecules and the delocalization of excited state electrons for enhanced photocatalytic hydrogen production under visible light.

• Research Organization: Sandia National Lab. (SNL-NM), Albuquerque, NM (United States); Henan Univ., Kaifeng (China)
• Sponsoring Organization: USDOE Office of Science (SC), Basic Energy Sciences (BES); USDOE National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA); National Natural Science Foundation of China (NSFC); Plan for Scientific Innovation Talent of Henan Province (China); Program for Changjiang Scholars and Innovative Research Team in University (China)
• Grant/Contract Number: NA0003525; 21422102; 21771055; U1604139; 21601049; 21171049; 174200510019; PCS IRT_15R18
• OSTI ID: 1472258
• Report Number(s): SAND-2018-9721J; 667612
• Journal Information: Nano Letters, Vol. 18, Issue 1; ISSN 1530-6984
• Publisher: American Chemical Society
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

77 NANOSCIENCE AND NANOTECHNOLOGY
hydrogen evolution
porphyrins
self-assembly
visible light photocatalytic