Plasma-based immobilisation of novel non-precious metal photosensitizers for improved light harvest in photo(electro)catalytic water splitting

该项目的目的是开发用于光电催化水分解的新型高效半导体分子敏化剂组件。通过对半导体表面进行特殊修饰，将非贵金属染料固定在半导体上，以提高光收获效率。改性将通过等离子沉积功能化聚合物涂层来实现。更确切地说，联合申请的目的是开发一种光催化水分解再生制氢的解决方案。为此，中国和德国的研究团队将结合他们在分子催化剂合成、光催化剂和光敏剂开发以及等离子体技术等领域的专业知识。对于水分解光敏剂，半导体组件将被开发。重点在于合成新的非贵金属光敏剂，以提高光收获。这是一种分子化合物，由非贵金属中心原子由氮和含磷配体包围而成。在可见光范围内，光敏剂应该比半导体材料显示出明显更高的光收获效率。这些通常用于均相催化的化合物的性能将用于提高非均相催化剂的光催化活性。因此，原本在可见光范围内表现为低效吸附的半导体表面将用上述增敏剂进行修饰。两个组件之间的接口是此类组件效率的重要因素。等离子体聚合涂层将用于将光敏剂锚定在半导体表面上并使电子在它们之间传递。光敏剂-半导体组件将最终应用于光催化电池的制氢。该项目的跨学科方面将促进中德两国在光催化水分解方面的研究人员之间的交流。这种合作为培训研究人员提供了一个独特的机会，利用在国外的几个月的长期停留来加速新科学知识的交流。在这个项目中，将特别培训年轻的研究人员。太阳能制氢这一特殊领域需要跨学科的思维和行动。一个可持续的研究环境将通过跨学科的跨境知识交流来实现。

The aim of this project is the development of novel and efficient semi-conductor-molecular sensitizer assemblies for photoelectrocatalytic water splitting. Non precious metal containing dyes will be anchored on semiconductors by specific modification of their surfaces to improve the efficiency of light harvest. The modification will be performed by plasma deposition of functionalized polymer coatings.More precisely, the intention of the joint application is to develop a solution for the regenerative hydrogen production by photocatalytic water splitting. For that purpose research teams from China and Germany will combine their expertises in the fields of synthesis of molecular catalysts, photocatalyst and photosensitizer development and plasma technology. For the water splitting photosensitizer-semiconductor assemblies will be developed. A focus lies on the synthesis of novel non-precious metal photosensitizers for an improved light harvest. These are molecular compounds, which consist of non-precious metal central atoms surrounded by nitrogen and phosphor containing ligands. The photosensitizers should show significantly higher light harvest efficiencies in the visible range of light than the semiconducting materials. The performance of these compounds, normally used for homogeneous catalysis, will be applied to improve the photocatalytic activity of heterogeneous catalysts. Therefore the surfaces of semiconductors, which originally show an inefficient adsorption in the visible range, will be modified with the above mentioned sensitizers. The interface between both components is an important factor for the efficiency of such assemblies. Plasma polymerized coatings will be utilized for anchoring the photosensitizer on the semiconductor surface and enabling the electron transport between them. Photosensitizer-semiconductor assemblies will be finally applied for hydrogen production in photoelectrocatalytical cells.The interdisciplinary aspect of the project will stimulate the communication between researchers of China and Germany working on photocatalytic water splitting. The cooperation offers a unique opportunity for training of researchers by using several months long stays abroad to accelerate the exchange of new scientific knowledge. Within the project especially young researchers will be trained. The special field of solar hydrogen production requires interdisciplinary thinking and acting. A sustainable research environment will be realized by an interdisciplinary cross border exchange of knowledge.