Covalently Locked Donor–Acceptor Block Copolymer Nanoparticles Enable Efficient, Stable and Reproducible Photocatalytic Hydrogen Evolution
ABSTRACT Organic photocatalysts with tailored properties and unique processability offer a sustainable route to solar hydrogen. To maximize light harvesting and charge generation, donor and acceptor materials are usually physically mixed to form D:A heterojunction nanoparticles (NPs). However, weakly constrained interactions can promote phase segregation, morphological evolution, and limited reproducibility. Here, we introduce an all‐conjugated donor–acceptor block copolymer, PBDB‐T‐ b ‐PYT, in which covalent linkage between PBDB‐T and PYT segments constrains nanoscale donor–acceptor organization and promotes intramolecular charge transfer. Compared with nanoparticles prepared from a physical PBDB‐T:PYT blend, PBDB‐T‐ b ‐PYT nanoparticles exhibit stronger photoluminescence quenching, more persistent charge‐associated transient absorption features, and improved photoelectrochemical charge extraction. As a result, hydrogen evolution reaction (HER) rates exceeding 120 mmol cm −2 g −1 h −1 (>450 µmol h −1 ) are achieved with low Pt loading (<3 wt.%). PBDB‐T‐ b ‐PYT NPs retained 95% of the initial HER rate after 96 h of photocatalysis. Conversely, NPs prepared from physically mixed PBDB‐T and PYT show lower activity and faster deactivation, consistent with morphology‐driven losses. PBDB‐T‐ b ‐PYT also maintains high performance across polymer batches, improving reproducibility. These results establish all‐conjugated donor–acceptor block copolymers as a promising design strategy for combining high activity, operational stability, and reproducibility in organic nanoparticle photocatalysis.
Authors
- Mateus Bergami (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-9569-4006)
- Carlos Moyses Araujo (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-5192-0016)
- Márcio T. do N. Varella (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-5812-0342)
- Soumi Roy
- Leandro R. Franco (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-8692-3396)
- Eva Olsson (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-3791-9569)
- Ergang Wang (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-4942-3771)
- Alexandre Holmes (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0009-0003-1340-4602)
- Bo Albinsson (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-5991-7863)
- Lunjie J. Zeng (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-4564-7217)
- Mathis Mortensen Brette (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0009-0003-2456-4476)
- Xiaoman Bi (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-3789-3119)
- Rafael Bicudo Ribeiro (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-8582-7362)
- Qiaonan Chen
- Linnea Lind
Institutions
- Uppsala University (SE)
- Universidade de São Paulo (BR)
- Zhengzhou University (CN)
- Karlstad University (SE)
- Chalmers University of Technology (SE)
Publication Details
- Journal
- Advanced Energy Materials
- Published
- 2026-10-18
- DOI
- https://doi.org/10.1002/aenm.71708
- Primary Topic
- Advanced Photocatalysis Techniques
- Type
- article
- Field-Weighted Citation Impact
- 0.00