POS6-0629
Surfactant Effects on Structure–Property Relationships in Nanoparticles for Solar Hydrogen Production
When and Where
Nov 30, -0001
12:00am - 12:00am
Presenter(s)
Hyunjoo Lee (School of Energy Engineering, Kyunpook National University, Daehak-ro 80, Buk-gu, Daegu, 41566)
Co-Author(s)
Abstract
Hydrogen is a promising clean energy carrier, and photocatalytic water splitting has attracted considerable attention as a sustainable route for hydrogen production. Conjugated polymer nanoparticles (CPNs) have emerged as attractive organic photocatalysts owing to their strong visible light absorption, tunable electronic structures, and solution processability. Surfactants are widely employed to stabilize CPNs in aqueous environments, however they can also influence molecular packing and interchain interactions within the nanoparticles. Despite reports on surfactant-dependent photocatalytic performance, the structural origins remain poorly understood. In this study, poly(9, 9-dioctylfluorene-alt-benzothiadiazole (F8BT) nanoparticles were prepared using the cationic surfactant DTAB, the anionic surfactant TEBS, and the nonionic polymer stabilizer PS-PEG-COOH. The nanoparticle structures were investigated by small-angle X-ray scattering (SAXS), while their photophysical properties were characterized using UV–Vis absorption spectroscopy, photoluminescence (PL) spectroscopy, and time-correlated single-photon counting (TCSPC). Photocatalytic hydrogen evolution measurements were subsequently performed to correlate structure and function. SAXS analysis revealed pronounced surfactant-dependent differences in molecular packing, with DTAB-stabilized nanoparticles exhibiting relatively loose packing and TEBS-stabilized nanoparticles displaying more compact structures. These structural variations led to distinct optical and excited state properties, which in turn influenced charge-transfer processes and photocatalytic hydrogen evolution performance. This study establishes a clear structure–property–performance relationship in F8BT nanoparticles, demonstrating that surfactant-induced molecular packing governs photophysical behavior, photocatalytic activity and the design of efficient organic photocatalysts for solar hydrogen production.
