Organic semiconductor nanoparticles for visible-light-driven CO₂ conversion

Journal article

We present an experimental proof-of-concept study of organic semiconductor nanoparticles (NPs) for visible-light-driven carbon dioxide (CO2) conversion. Donor:acceptor NPs, consisting of the conjugated polymer donor PM6 and small molecule electron acceptors, namely, PC71BM or Y6, decorated with silver as cocatalyst, produce CH4 with reaction rates of (3.6 ± 0.8) and (4.2 ± 1.4) μmol g−1 h−1, respectively. NPs consisting of PCE10 as donor polymer and ITIC as small molecule acceptor and decorated with gold as cocatalyst, exhibit CO production rates of (4.7 ± 1.2) μmol g−1 h−1. Importantly, the synergetic effect of efficient cocatalyst deposition and charge carrier generation within the NPs determines their photocatalytic activity.This publication is based upon work supported by King Abdullah University of Science and Technology (KAUST) under Award No. ORA-CRG9-2020-4384. C. E. P. acknowledges support from King Abdullah University of Science and Technology (KAUST) Global Fellowship Program under Award No. ORA-2022-5002. C. S. P. C. acknowledges support from King Abdullah University of Science and Technology (KAUST) under Award No. OSR-CRG8-2019-4025. The authors are sincerely grateful to Dr C. Combe for his assistance in the initial development of the experimental setup. The authors also thank Dr C. Rossi De Oliveira for providing the necessary equipment for GC/MS analysis of 13C-isotope labelled products

Authors: Ferree, M; Kosco, J; Alshehri, N; Zhao, L; De Castro, CSP

• Publication status: Published
• Peer review status: Peer reviewed
• Publisher: Royal Society of Chemistry
• Journal: Sustainable Energy & Fuels
• Volume: 8
• Issue: 11
• Pages: 2423-2430
• Publication date: 2024-05-28
• DOI: 10.1039/d4se00196f
• EISSN: 2398-4902
• ISSN: 2398-4902
• Language: English
• Keywords: Materials science; Optoelectronics; Semiconductor; Visible spectrum; Nanotechnology; Organic semiconductor; Nanoparticle