Enhanced oxidation potential of holes under visible light for organic photo-oxidation

The balance between oxidation potential and spectral response range is a critical consideration in photocatalysis. In this issue of Chem, Zhu and co-workers present a general approach in which Fe3+ additives initiate the generation of intra-valence band holes in organic conjugated molecular crystals under visible-light irradiation. This approach significantly enhances the oxidation potential for photocatalytic pollutant degradation. The balance between oxidation potential and spectral response range is a critical consideration in photocatalysis. In this issue of Chem, Zhu and co-workers present a general approach in which Fe3+ additives initiate the generation of intra-valence band holes in organic conjugated molecular crystals under visible-light irradiation. This approach significantly enhances the oxidation potential for photocatalytic pollutant degradation. Generation of holes from intra-valence band for enhanced oxidation potentials under visible lightGuo et al.ChemFebruary 19, 2024In BriefThis study presents a novel approach for initiating intra-valence band hole generation in organic conjugated molecular crystals under visible light irradiation. Among five representative organic conjugated particles, the oxidation potentials of intra-valence band holes can reach up to 3.85 V vs. RHE. These holes couple with carbonyl groups, forming hole-coupled carbonyl sites (–C=O+) with a long lifetime of 84.5 ns. The high-energy photogenerated holes exhibit scalable oxidation capabilities, such as the degradation of organic pollutants in water under natural sunlight conditions. Full-Text PDF