Correlation between the Molecular Properties of Semiconducting Polymers of Intrinsic Microporosity and Their Photocatalytic Hydrogen Production.

Increasing the interface area between organic semiconductor photocatalysts and electrolyte by fabricating nanoparticles has proven to be an effective strategy to increase photocatalytic hydrogen production activity. However, it remains unclear if increasing the interface by the introduction of porosity has as clear benefits for activity. To better inform future photocatalyst design, a series of polymers of intrinsic microporosity (PIMs) with the same conjugated backbone were synthesized as a platform to independently modulate the variables of porosity and relative hydrophilicity through the use of hydrophilic alcohol moieties protected by silyl ether protecting groups.

Designing Contact Independent High-Performance Low-Cost Flexible Electronics.

Organic semiconductors enable low-cost solution processing of optoelectronic devices on flexible substrates. Their use in contemporary applications, however, is sparse due to persistent challenges in achieving the requisite performance levels in a reliable and reproducible manner. A critical bottleneck is the inefficiency associated with charge injection.

Solution-processable polymers of intrinsic microporosity for gas-phase carbon dioxide photoreduction.

Four solution-processable, linear conjugated polymers of intrinsic porosity are synthesised and tested for gas phase carbon dioxide photoreduction. The polymers' photoreduction efficiency is investigated as a function of their porosity, optical properties, energy levels and photoluminescence. All polymers successfully form carbon monoxide as the main product, without the addition of metal co-catalysts.

Templated 2D Polymer Heterojunctions for Improved Photocatalytic Hydrogen Production.

2D polymers have emerged as one of the most promising classes of organic photocatalysts for solar fuel production due to their tunability, charge-transport properties, and robustness. They are however difficult to process and so there are limited studies into the formation of heterojunction materials incorporating these components. In this work, a novel templating approach is used to combine an imine-based donor polymer and an acceptor polymer formed through Knoevenagel condensation.

Aptamer-Modified Homogeneous Catalysts, Heterogenous Nanoparticle Catalysts, and Photocatalysts: Functional "Nucleoapzymes", "Aptananozymes", and "Photoaptazymes".

Conjugation of aptamers to homogeneous catalysts ("nucleoapzymes"), heterogeneous nanoparticle catalysts ("aptananozymes"), and photocatalysts ("photoaptazymes") yields superior catalytic/photocatalytic hybrid nanostructures emulating functions of native enzymes and photosystems. The concentration of the substrate in proximity to the catalytic sites ("molarity effect") or spatial concentration of electron-acceptor units in spatial proximity to the photosensitizers, by aptamer-ligand complexes, leads to enhanced catalytic/photocatalytic efficacies of the hybrid nanostructures. This is exemplified by sets of "nucleoapzymes" composed of aptamers conjugated to the hemin/G-quadruplex DNAzymes or metal-ligand complexes as catalysts, catalyzing the oxidation of dopamine to aminochrome, oxygen-insertion into the Ar─H moiety of tyrosinamide and the subsequent oxidation of the catechol product into aminochrome, or the hydrolysis of esters or ATP.