[19a-C310-1~12] 6.6 Probe Microscopy

[19a-C310-11] Fabrication of model surfaces of a hybrid photocathode for SPM analysis

〇Akira Sasahara¹, Yusuke Tamaki², Osamu Ishitani², Hiroshi Onishi¹ (1.Kobe Univ., 2.Tokyo Inst. Tech.)

Keywords:STM, supramolecular photocatalyst, hybrid photocathode

Photoelectrochemical CO₂ reduction using methanol as a reducing agent has been achieved by supramolecular photocatalyst/semiconductor hybrid photocathode. The supramolecular photocatalyst is composed of two metal complexes: a photosensitizer complex and a catalyst complex. Photogenerated electrons transfer through the bonds between the semiconductor, photosensitizer complex, and catalyst complex. The mixing of the orbital at the bonds is sensitive to the configuration of the supramolecular photocatalyst. Hence, the adsorption configuration of the supramolecular photocatalyst should be optimized to maximize the electron transfer efficiency and thereby to enhance the light conversion efficiency for the CO₂ reduction. In this study, the photosensitizer complexes adsorbed on the TiO₂(110)-(1x1) surface were examined by STM. Adsorbed complexes as well as the TiO₂ surface structure were resolved, and the complex is expected to be anchored to two neighboring Ti atom rows via the two phosphate groups.