Localized surface plasmon-enhanced photoelectrochemical water oxidation by inorganic/organic nano-heterostructure comprising NDI-based D-A-D type small molecule

Devendra Mayurdhwaj Sanke; Nani Gopal Ghosh; Sarasija Das; Himadri Shekhar Karmakar; Ayan Sarkar; Sanjio S Zade

doi:10.1016/j.jcis.2021.05.158

Localized surface plasmon-enhanced photoelectrochemical water oxidation by inorganic/organic nano-heterostructure comprising NDI-based D-A-D type small molecule

J Colloid Interface Sci. 2021 Nov:601:803-815. doi: 10.1016/j.jcis.2021.05.158. Epub 2021 May 29.

Authors

Devendra Mayurdhwaj Sanke¹, Nani Gopal Ghosh¹, Sarasija Das¹, Himadri Shekhar Karmakar¹, Ayan Sarkar², Sanjio S Zade³

Affiliations

¹ Department of Chemical Sciences and Centre for Advanced Functional Materials, Indian Institute of Science Education and Research (IISER) Kolkata, Mohanpur, Nadia 741246, West Bengal, India.
² Department of Chemical Sciences and Centre for Advanced Functional Materials, Indian Institute of Science Education and Research (IISER) Kolkata, Mohanpur, Nadia 741246, West Bengal, India. Electronic address: visit2ayan@gmail.com.
³ Department of Chemical Sciences and Centre for Advanced Functional Materials, Indian Institute of Science Education and Research (IISER) Kolkata, Mohanpur, Nadia 741246, West Bengal, India. Electronic address: sanjiozade@iiserkol.ac.in.

PMID: 34102408
DOI: 10.1016/j.jcis.2021.05.158

Abstract

This research article reports the visible-light-driven photoelectrochemical water oxidation performances of the plasmonic Au-Pd nanoparticle-decorated inorganic/organic nano-heterostructures (NHs)-B-TiO₂/NDIEHTh@Au-Pd. The inorganic constituent of the NHs consists of boron-doped TiO₂ nanorods (NRs) grown on fluorine-doped tin oxide (FTO) coated glass substrate. The organic part (NDIEHTh) consists of an acceptor naphthalene diimide (NDI)-based donor-acceptor-donor (D-A-D) type small molecule, in which thiophene serves as the donor. Because of the benefits of the localized surface plasmon resonance (LSPR) effect, the Au-Pd binary alloy nanoparticles substantially ameliorate the visible-light-driven photoelectrochemical performances of the B-TiO₂/NDIEHTh@Au-Pd NHs photoanode compared to the B-TiO₂/NDIEHTh NHs photoanode. The photocurrent densities exhibited by the B-TiO₂/NDIEHTh NHs, and B-TiO₂/NDIEHTh@Au-Pd NHs photoanodes at 1 V vs Ag/AgCl are 0.68 mA/cm² and 1.59 mA/cm², respectively, manifesting 209% and 623% increments in the photocurrent density compared to that shown by B-TiO₂ NRs photoanode. Besides, the B-TiO₂/NDIEHTh@Au-Pd NHs photoanode offers a significantly cathodically shifted water oxidation potential, reduced charge transfer resistance, better surface injection efficiency, and most importantly, superior photostability compared to the B-TiO₂/NDIEHTh NHs photoanode. The enhancement in the different photoelectrochemical performances could be attributed to the various advantages of LSPR, such as enhanced light absorbance, light concentration, hot electron injection, and plasmon-induced resonance energy transfer.

Keywords: D-A-D type small molecule; Inorganic/organic nano-heterostructures for PEC; Organic semiconductor for water oxidation; Plasmon-enhanced water splitting.