Electron Donor–Acceptor Interface of TPPS/PDI Boosting Charge Transfer for Efficient Photocatalytic Hydrogen Evolution

Charge separation efficiency of photocatalysts is still the key scientific issue for solar-to-chemical energy conversion. In this work, an electron donor-acceptor (D-A) interface with high charge separation between TPPS (tetra(4-sulfonatophenyl)porphyrin) and PDI (perylene diimide) is successfully constructed for boosting photocatalytic H2 evolution. The TPPS/PDI with D-A interface shows excellent photocatalytic H2 evolution rate of 546.54 µmol h-1 (30.36 mmol h-1 g-1 ), which is 9.95 and 9.41 times higher than that of pure TPPS and PDI, respectively. The TPPS/PDI has a markedly stronger internal electric field, which is respectively 3.76 and 3.01 times higher than that of pure PDI and TPPS. The D-A interface with giant internal electric field efficiently facilitates charge separation and urges TPPS/PDI to have a longer excited state lifetime than single component. The work provides entirely new ideas for designing materials with D-A interface to realize high photocatalytic activity.