[19a-P1-1~11] 1.4 Energy conversion, storage, resources and environment

▲ [19a-P1-2] Demonstration of the Potential of Organic Nanocrystals as Visible-Light Active Photocatalyst

〇(D)Chanon Pornrungroj¹, Mamiko Ozawa¹, Tsunenobu Onodera¹, Hidetoshi Oikawa¹ (1.Institute of Multidisciplinary Research for Advanced Materials (IMRAM))

Keywords:photocatalyst, water splitting, Nanocrystals

Photocatalysis is an important key player for the production of H₂ to respond to the global demand of a sustainable and affordable fuel, as it can split water into H₂ and O₂ by using solar energy. The major drawback of the currently utilized inorganic oxide photocatalysts, such as TiO₂ is their large bandgap energy. In this work we present the new design strategy using organic nanocrystals (NCs) to achieve a highly efficient visible-light-active heterogeneous photocatalyst for water decontamination and hydrogen production. Polydiacetylene (PDA), Phenyl-C61-butyric acid methyl ester (PCBM), and some other organic molecules have been used to demonstrate a superior photocatalytic activity for the degradation of organic pollutants. In addition, we investigated the relationship between the photocatalytic activity and the morphology of NCs. Furthermore, we have confirmed the reusability and practicality of the organic NCs system. This work will pave the way for further development and understanding of organic photocatalysts for various applications such as water purification and hydrogen generation systems.