Using Surface Amide Couplings to Assemble Photocathodes for Solar Fuel Production Applications

Journal Article · Wed Jan 29 04:00:00 EST 2020 · ACS Applied Materials & Interfaces

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1021/acsami.9b19003· OSTI ID:1597656

Materna, Kelly L. ^[1]; Lalaoui, Noemie ^[2]; Laureanti, Joseph A. ^[3]; Walsh, Aaron P. ^[3]; Rimgard, Belinda P. ^[1]; Lomoth, Reiner ^[1]; Thapper, Anders ^[1]; Ott, Sascha ^[1]; Shaw, Wendy J. ^[3]; Tian, Haining ^[1]; Hammarstrom, Leif ^[1]

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1. Uppsala University
2. University Grenoble Alpes
3. BATTELLE (PACIFIC NW LAB)

A facile surface-amide coupling method was examined to attach dye and catalyst molecules to silatrane-decorated NiO electrodes. Using this method, electrodes with a push-pull dye were assembled, and characterized by photoelectrochemistry and transient absorption spectroscopy. The dye-sensitized electrodes exhibited hole injection into NiO and good photoelectrochemical stability in water, highlighting the stability of the silatrane anchoring group and the amide linkage. The amide coupling protocol was further applied to electrodes that contain a molecular proton reduction catalyst for use in photocathode architectures. Evidence for catalyst reduction was observed during hotoelectrochemical measurements and via fs-transient absorption spectroscopy demonstrating the possibility for application in photocathodes.

• Research Organization: Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL), Richland, WA (United States)
• Sponsoring Organization: USDOE
• DOE Contract Number: AC05-76RL01830
• OSTI ID: 1597656
• Report Number(s): PNNL-SA-140674
• Journal Information: ACS Applied Materials & Interfaces, Journal Name: ACS Applied Materials & Interfaces Journal Issue: 4 Vol. 12
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

solar fuels
photocathode
Nickel oxide
silatrane
amide coupling