Robust Photogeneration of H2in Water Using Semiconductor Nanocrystals and a Nickel Catalyst

Homogeneous systems for light-driven reduction of protons to H 2 typically suffer from short lifetimes because of decomposition of the light-absorbing molecule. We report a robust and highly active system for solar hydrogen generation in water that uses CdSe nanocrystals capped with dihydrolipoic ac...

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Bibliographic Details
Published inScience (American Association for the Advancement of Science) Vol. 338; no. 6112; pp. 1321 - 1324
Main Authors Han, Zhiji, Qiu, Fen, Eisenberg, Richard, Holland, Patrick L., Krauss, Todd D.
Format Journal Article
LanguageEnglish
Japanese
Published American Association for the Advancement of Science 07.12.2012
Subjects
Catalysts
Electrons
Hydrogen
Irradiation
Molecules
Nanocrystals
Protons
Semiconductors
Solvents
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Summary:Homogeneous systems for light-driven reduction of protons to H 2 typically suffer from short lifetimes because of decomposition of the light-absorbing molecule. We report a robust and highly active system for solar hydrogen generation in water that uses CdSe nanocrystals capped with dihydrolipoic acid (DHLA) as the light absorber and a soluble Ni 2+ -DHLA catalyst for proton reduction with ascorbic acid as an electron donor at pH = 4.5, which gives >600,000 turnovers. Under appropriate conditions, the precious-metal—free system has undiminished activity for at least 360 hours under illumination at 520 nanometers and achieves quantum yields in water of over 36%.
ISSN:0036-8075
1095-9203
DOI:10.1126/science.1227775