Poly(1,4-Diethynylbenzene) Gradient Homojunction with Enhanced Charge Carrier Separation for Photoelectrochemical Water Reduction

Sun H, Neumann C, Zhang T, Loeffler M, Wolf A, Hou Y, Turchanin A, Zhang J, Feng X (2019)

Publication Type: Journal article

Publication year: 2019

Journal

Advanced Materials Wiley

Book Volume: 31

Article Number: 1900961

Journal Issue: 19

DOI: 10.1002/adma.201900961

Abstract

As appealing photoelectrode materials for photoeletrochemical hydrogen evolution reaction (PEC HER), conjugated polymers still show poor PEC HER performance as a result of their serious recombination of photogenerated electrons and holes. Herein, a novel design of gradient homojunction is demonstrated by controlled copolymerization of 1,4-diethynylbenzene (DEB) and 1,3,5-triethynylbenzene (TEB). The as-built gradient distribution of TEB monomer in poly(1,4-diethynylbenzene) (pDEB) leads to continuous band bending engineering, which constitutes a gradient homojunction. Under AM 1.5G irradiation and in 0.1 m Na 2 SO 4 aqueous solution, the as-fabricated pDEB gradient homojunction exhibits a charge separation efficiency of 0.27% at 0.3 V versus reversible hydrogen electrode (RHE), which is 3.4 and 1.7 times higher than those for pure pDEB and the traditionally designed pDEB homojunction. As a result, the photocurrent of the pDEB gradient homojunction unprecedentedly reaches 55 µA cm −2 at 0.3 V versus RHE, which is much higher than 19 µA cm −2 for pure pDEB, 32 µA cm −2 for the pDEB homojunction, and state-of-the-art organic photocathodes, e.g., g-C 3 N 4 (≈1−32 µA cm −2 ). This work opens up a new window for the design of gradient homojunctions and will advance the exploration of high-performance organic photoelectrodes.

Involved external institutions

Technische Universität Dresden DE Germany (DE) Friedrich-Schiller-Universität Jena DE Germany (DE) Zhejiang University CN China (CN)

How to cite

APA:

Sun, H., Neumann, C., Zhang, T., Loeffler, M., Wolf, A., Hou, Y.,... Feng, X. (2019). Poly(1,4-Diethynylbenzene) Gradient Homojunction with Enhanced Charge Carrier Separation for Photoelectrochemical Water Reduction. Advanced Materials, 31(19). https://doi.org/10.1002/adma.201900961

MLA:

Sun, Hanjun, et al. "Poly(1,4-Diethynylbenzene) Gradient Homojunction with Enhanced Charge Carrier Separation for Photoelectrochemical Water Reduction." Advanced Materials 31.19 (2019).

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