Norberto Manfredi, Paolo Fornasiero, Riccardo Ruffo, Bianca Cecconi, Ismael Romero-Ocaña, Tiziano Montini, Alessandro Abbotto, Cecconi, B, Manfredi, N, Ruffo, R, Montini, T, Romero Ocaña, I, Fornasiero, P, Abbotto, A, Cecconi, Bianca, Manfredi, Norberto, Ruffo, Riccardo, Montini, Tiziano, ROMERO OCAÑA, Ismael, Fornasiero, Paolo, and Abbotto, Alessandro
Dibranched donor-(pi-acceptor)2 dyes, where phenothiazine is the donor core, cyanoacrylic acid is the acceptor/anchoring group, and pi is represented by mono- and poly-cyclic simple and fused thiophene derivatives, were tested as photosensitizers in the photocatalytic production of H2 , in combination with a Pt/TiO2 catalyst. The optical and electrochemical properties of the dyes were investigated, showing that careful design of the thiophene-based pi spacer afforded enhanced optical properties. In the H2 production over 20 h, the new thiophene-based sensitizers revealed improved stability after longer irradiation times and enhanced performances, in terms of H2 production rates and light-to-fuel efficiencies, after an initial activation period, which were for the first time associated with enhanced stability under photocatalytic production of H2 and the absence of critical dye degradation.