Intermolecular cascaded π-conjugation channels for electron delivery powering CO<sub>2</sub> photoreduction.
basic_science · Level V
Where this comes from
- Record sourced from PubMed, PMID 32123173.
- Also identified by DOI 10.1038/s41467-020-14851-7 and PMC identifier 7051963.
- Licence recorded as CC BY.
- The licence permits redistribution, so the abstract is shown in full and the full text is available from the publisher.
Abstract
Photoreduction of CO<sub>2</sub> to fuels offers a promising strategy for managing the global carbon balance using renewable solar energy. But the decisive process of oriented photogenerated electron delivery presents a considerable challenge. Here, we report the construction of intermolecular cascaded π-conjugation channels for powering CO<sub>2</sub> photoreduction by modifying both intramolecular and intermolecular conjugation of conjugated polymers (CPs). This coordination of dual conjugation is firstly proved by theoretical calculations and transient spectroscopies, showcasing alkynyl-removed CPs blocking the delocalization of electrons and in turn delivering the localized electrons through the intermolecular cascaded channels to active sites. Therefore, the optimized CPs (N-CP-D) exhibiting CO evolution activity of 2247 μmol g<sup>-1</sup> h<sup>-1</sup> and revealing a remarkable enhancement of 138-times compared to unmodified CPs (N-CP-A).