Electrochemical and Photoelectrochemical Investigation of New Self-Assembled Films Based on Prussian Blue and a Terpyridyl RuII Complex

Abstract

A new hybrid multilayer film containing Prussian blue (PB) and a bis-terpyridyl RuII complex of RuII(L)2(ClO4)2 (in which L = 4′-(4-(imidazol-1-yl)phenyl)-2,2′:6′,2″-terpyridine), was fabricated though covalently and electrostatic layer-by-layer self-assembly techniques, and characterised by UV-vis absorption spectroscopy, cyclic voltammetry, and photoelectrochemical techniques. The results demonstrated that the two film-forming components were successfully transferred into the hybrid film, which exhibited three quasi-reversible redox couples centred at 0.06, 0.76, and 1.0 V. The photoelectrochemical studies showed that an 11-layer film exhibited a large cathodic photocurrent density of 7.72 μA cm–2 while irradiated with 100 mW cm–2 polychromatic light (325 < λ < 730 nm) at an applied potential of –0.2 V versus a saturated calomel electrode.