Issue 5, 2016

A new medium for triplet–triplet annihilated upconversion and photocatalytic application

Abstract

Since the triplet–triplet annihilated upconversion (TTA-UC) materials work efficiently only in degassing organic solvents, it is of significance to find a new medium without toxicity and volatility and that promotes TTA-UC. Here, we firstly reported the effect of an OH-containing medium on low power upconversion and found that in alcohol solvent containing β-cyclodextrin (β-CD), the phosphorescence lifetime (τp) of the sensitizer (PdTPP) and the fluorescence quantum yield (Φf) of the acceptor (DPA) were enhanced with the increase in the number of OH-groups of the medium. A large triplet–triplet quenching constant (kq, 1.91 × 109 M−1 s−1) and high upconversion efficiency (ΦUC, ∼36%) of PdTPP/DPA were obtained under the excitation of a diode laser (532 nm, 60 mW cm−2). Under our green-to-blue upconversion irradiation, in a demonstration experiment the photocurrent was recorded at 0.09 μA cm−2, resulting from photocatalytic water splitting by a Cd0.7Zn0.3S photoanode and a Pt counter-electrode in a photoelectrochemical cell. The importance of this study suggests that upconversion-powered photoelectrochemistry possesses potential application for hydrogen generation from water under excitation of sun energy.

Graphical abstract: A new medium for triplet–triplet annihilated upconversion and photocatalytic application

Supplementary files

Article information

Article type
Paper
Submitted
04 Sep 2015
Accepted
28 Oct 2015
First published
18 Nov 2015

Phys. Chem. Chem. Phys., 2016,18, 3430-3437

Author version available

A new medium for triplet–triplet annihilated upconversion and photocatalytic application

C. Ye, J. Wang, X. Wang, P. Ding, Z. Liang and X. Tao, Phys. Chem. Chem. Phys., 2016, 18, 3430 DOI: 10.1039/C5CP05288B

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