Fig. 3: Photocatalytic activities of molecular nanojunctions prepared by UNP and scaled-up using FNP.
a,b, Plots showing amount of hydrogen produced for 186 donor–acceptor molecular nanojunction photocatalysts prepared by UNP in the first screening round (a) and a second screening round (b) under AM 1.5G irradiation (average light intensity, 100 mW cm−2). c, HERs of identified donor–acceptor combinations (MTPA-CA:CNP8, MTPA-CA:CNP35, MTPA-CA:CNP36, MTPA-CA:CNP80, MCZ-CA:CNP36 and MTPA-CA:CNP147) that were scaled-up using FNP. Note that MTPA-CA:CNP126 was inactive in high-throughput screening and was included in the FNP scale-up as a control. d, Chemical structures of the components of the best-performing donor–acceptor combination, MTPA-CA (D) and CNP147 (A). e, Average HERs of MTPA-CA:CNP147 blend nanojunction photocatalysts formed by FNP using different donor–acceptor mass ratios; around 60 wt% CNP147 is optimal. Photocatalysis conditions: 1.56 mg photocatalyst, 25 ml H2O, 3 wt% platinum based on molecular nanojunction as a co-catalyst, 0.2 M ascorbic acid. f, Time courses for photocatalytic hydrogen evolution of MTPA-CA:CNP147 (4:6 wt/wt) formed by FNP under optimal catalytic conditions irradiated by a xenon lamp with full spectrum and AM 1.5G, respectively (average light intensities, 289 and 100 mW cm−2, respectively), and a comparison with a simple physical mixture of the respective nanoparticles of the individual components, MTPA-CA and CNP147. g, EQEs of MTPA-CA:CNP147 (4:6 wt/wt) nanophotocatalysts formed by FNP measured at 350, 365, 400, 420 and 500 nm, overlaid with the ultraviolet–visible absorption spectrum for the donor–acceptor nanojunction.
