Enhanced Interfacial Electric Field Via Dipole-Dipole Modulated D–A Polymer of Dopamine-Pdi for Improved Overall Photosynthetic H2o2 and Water Remediation

Abstract

Photocatalytic synthesis of hydrogen peroxide (H2O2) from H2O and O2 is economically attractive, yet it poses significant challenge in ineffective electron-hole separation. We judiciously designed dopamine-modified self-assembled perylene diimides (SA-PDI@PDA) with electrostatic interaction-induced Donor-Acceptor (D–A) interfaces for scalable H2O2 production. The incorporation of PDA with hyperchromic -NH2 group extends light absorption by enhancing longitudinal π-π interactions and reducing π-π* transition energy. The dipole-dipole of SA-PDI@PDA enlarge D–A interface to generate 1.6 times interfacial electric field (IEF) to promote charge separation. This enable the extraction of strong-reductive electrons for H2O2 generation, which is 5.4 times higher than bare SA-PDI. Through anthraquinone-mediated two-step single electron reaction, SA-PDI@PDA affords a high H2O2 yield rate of 4873 μmol g−1 h−1 and an apparent quantum yield (AQY) of 4.33% at 420 nm. This study offers valuable insights into photocatalyst design for sustainable H2O2 generation, which is readily used on sterilization and organic contaminant degradation.

Keywords: Dopamine modified self-assembly perylene diimides (SA-PDI@PDA), Donor-Acceptor (D-A) interface, Interficial electric field (IEF), Two-step 2e- ORR, on-site sterilization and contaminant degradation