The introduction of dual pyridinic N atoms into dibenzo[b,d]thiophene sulfone containing conjugated polymers for improved hydrogen evolution: Experimental and theoretical study

Abstract

Research a new type of semiconductor photocatalyst and apply it to photocatalytic water splitting to produce hydrogen. This is the most important topic in today's society. Therefore, we report four linear organic polymers PH-1, PH-2, PN-1 and PN-2, which are formed by the condensation of dibenzothiophene-S, S-dioxide units with a series of derivatives of benzene respectively and used for photocatalytic hydrogen evolution. What’s more, we also conducted a series of detailed characterization experiments on the four polymers, such as UV–vis, XPS, XRD, etc., to explore their molecular structure and optical properties. Compared with the polymer PH-1 and PH-2, the polymer PN-1 and PN-2 containing nitrogen element can better adjust the structure, reduce the band gap value, increase the specific surface area, and accelerate the separation of electrons and holes, PN-2 had the highest hydrogen evolution rate of 6658 μmol g−1 h−1 among four polymers without Pt as the co-catalyst under full arc irradiation. This work not only synthesized the four photocatalysts, but also opened up a new way for the conversion of solar energy into chemical fuels.