Rational design of a neutral pH functional and stable organic photocathode

Chem Commun (Camb). 2018 May 31;54(45):5732-5735. doi: 10.1039/c8cc01736k.

Abstract

In this work we lay out design guidelines for catalytically more efficient organic photocathodes achieving stable hydrogen production in neutral pH. We propose an organic photocathode architecture employing a NiO hole selective layer, a PCDTBT:PCBM bulk heterojunction, a compact TiO2 electron selective contact and a RuO2 nanoparticle catalyst. The role of each layer is discussed in terms of durability and function. With this strategically designed organic photocathode we obtain stable photocurrent densities for over 5 h and discuss routes for further performance improvement.