Dynamics and Photochemical H2 Evolution of Dye-NiO Photocathodes with a Biomimetic FeFe-Catalyst

Mesoporous NiO films were cosensitized with a coumarin 343 dye and a proton reduction catalyst of the [Fe-2(CO)(6)(bdt)] (bdt = benzene-1,2-dithiolate) family. Femtosecond ultraviolet visible transient absorption experiments directly demonstrated subpicosecond hole injection into NiO from excited dyes followed by rapid (t(50%) similar to 6 ps) reduction of the catalyst on the surface with similar to 70% yield. The reduced catalyst was long-lived (2 mu s to 20 ms), which may allow protonation and a second reduction step of the catalyst to occur. A photo electrochemical device based on this photocathode produced H-2 with a Faradaic efficiency of similar to 50%. Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy and gas chromatography experiments demonstrated that the observed device deterioration with time was mainly due to catalyst degradation and desorption from the NiO surface. The insights gained from these mechanistic studies, regarding development of dye-catalyst cosensitized photocathodes, are discussed.