Visible-light-driven hydrogen production in a dye sensitized polyoxometalate system without noble metals.

In this work, a noble-metal-free homogeneous system was constructed in one step with Keggin-type polyoxometalate (POM) SiW 12 O 40 4− as a catalyst, Eosin Y as a photosensitizer, and triethanolamine (TEOA) as a sacrificial electron donor for water splitting to produce hydrogen under visible-light irradiation. A two-electron reduced heteropoly blue SiW 12 O 40 6− is produced by photosensitization under visible-light irradiation. The effect of various component concentrations and POMs with different central atoms (PW 12 O 40 3− , GeW 12 O 40 4− , etc.) on hydrogen production was discussed. This simple system made of earth-abundant elements is expected to contribute toward the development of functional and efficient artificial photosynthetic system. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]