The dissociation of one pyridine of a pentadentate ligand (N4Py) from the Co centre was found to be responsible for the formation of a Co(III) hydride species, an indispensable intermediate for photocatalytic proton reduction.

The fabrication of hierarchical anatase microspheres with potential photocatalytic properties eventually comprises a consolidation step in which a high degree of crystalline order is typically achieved through conventional electric heating treatments. This however entails a substantial reduction in the specific surface area and porosity of the powders, with the consequent deterioration in their...

Copper sulfide nanotubes and nanoparticles have been successfully synthesized by a hydrothermal process at 160 °C for 10 h, employing copper chloride (CuCl2·2H2O) and thioacetamide as starting materials, polyethylene glycol 400 as surfactant. The products are characterized by X-ray power diffraction, scanning electron microscopy, UV–vis spectroscopy and fluorescence spectroscopy, respectively. ...

Photocatalytic approaches using two sets of semiconductor particles and a pair of redox-shuttle mediators are considered as a safe and economic solution for solar water splitting. Here, accurate experimental characterization techniques for photocatalytic half reactions are reported, investigating the gas as well as the liquid products. The methods are exemplified utilizing photocatalytic titani...

Hydrogen evolution from photocatalytic reduction of water holds promise as a sustainable source of carbon-free energy. Covalent organic frameworks (COFs) present an interesting new class of photoactive materials, which combine three key features relevant to the photocatalytic process, namely crystallinity, porosity and tunability. Here we synthesize a series of water- and photostable 2D azine-l...

A photocatalytic system for CO2 reduction exhibiting visible-light harvesting was developed by preparing a hybrid consisting of a supramolecular metal complex as photocatalyst and periodic mesoporous organosilica (PMO) as light harvester. A Ru(II) Re(I) binuclear complex (RuRe) with methylphosphonic acid anchor groups was adsorbed on acridone or methylacridone embedded in the walls of PMO mes...

The photocatalytic activity for CO(2) reduction and optical and electrochemical properties of two Ru(II)-Re(I) binuclear complexes [Ru(dmb)(2)LRe(CO)(3)Cl](2+) (Ru-Re and Ru=Re, dmb = 4,4'-dimethyl-2,2'-bipyridine) with 1,2-bis(4'-methyl-2,2'-bipyridyl-4-yl)ethane and 1,2-bis(4'-methyl-2,2'-bipyridyl-4-yl)ethene as bridging ligands have been investigated. The conjugation content of the bridging...