High Photocatalytic Oxygen Evolution via Strong Built-In Electric Field Induced by High Crystallinity of Perylene Imide Supramolecule.

Sheng, Yuqiang; Li, Wenlu; Xu, Liangliang; Zhu, Yongfa · Adv Mater · 2022

basic_science · Level V

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Abstract

A highly crystalline perylene imide supramolecular photocatalyst (PDI-NH) is synthesized via imidazole solvent method. The catalyst shows a breakthrough oxygen evolution rate (40.6 mmol g<sup>-1</sup> h<sup>-1</sup> ) with apparent quantum yield of 10.4% at 400 nm, which is 1353 times higher than the low crystalline PDI-NH. The highly crystalline structure comes from the ordered self-assembly process in molten imidazole solvent via π-π stacking and hydrogen bonding. Further, the excellent performance ascribes to the robust built-in electric field induced by its high crystallinity, which greatly accelerates the charge separation and transfer. What is more, the PDI-NH is quite stable and can be reused over 50 h without performance attenuation. Briefly, the crystalline PDI-NH with strong built-in electric field throws light on photocatalytic oxygen evolution, showing a new perspective for the design of organic photocatalysts.