Self-Assembled Amphiphilic Molecules for Highly Efficient Photocatalytic Hydrogen Evolution from Water

Self-assembled molecules for outstanding hydrogen evolution rate and durability should promise practical water splitting due to the versatile visible light absorption, low production cost, and ease of control. Here, we adapted an amphiphilic molecule as a building block for efficient small molecule based self-assembled photocatalyst for hydrogen evolution from water. The self-assembled molecules with platinum cocatalyst showed outstanding performance (turnover number similar to 27000) virtually comparable to the state-of-the-art metal oxide based photocatalysts with catalytic activity extending over days. Transient absorption studies in combination with quantum chemical calculations revealed that elaborate excited state engineering of the molecules resulted in such high performance of hydrogen evolution from water. This study shows that the self-assembled amphiphilic molecules could pave the way to more economical and reproducible production of hydrogen from water.