Citation: Zeyuan Zhang, Zixuan Li, Chenjing Liu, Yali Hou, Ke Gao, Shijin Jian, Guoping Li, Gang He, Mingming Zhang. Porphyrin metallacage-based host-guest complexation for highly efficient photocatalytic hydrogen production[J]. Chinese Chemical Letters, ;2025, 36(12): 111322. doi: 10.1016/j.cclet.2025.111322 shu

Porphyrin metallacage-based host-guest complexation for highly efficient photocatalytic hydrogen production

Zeyuan Zhang ^{a, *,} ,
Zixuan Li ^{a, 1} ,
Chenjing Liu ^{b, 1} ,
Yali Hou ^a ,
Ke Gao ^a ,
Shijin Jian ^a ,
Guoping Li ^b ,
Gang He ^b ,
Mingming Zhang ^{a, *,}

a.
State Key Laboratory of Porous Metal Materials, Shaanxi International Research Center for Soft Matter, School of Materials Science and Engineering, Xi'an Jiaotong University, Xi'an 710049, China
b.
Frontier Institute of Science and Technology, Engineering Research Center of Key Materials for Efficient Utilization of Clean Energy of Shaanxi Province, Xi'an Photoelectromagnetic Functional Materials International Science and Technology Cooperation Center, Xi'an Jiaotong University, Xi'an 710049, China

zeyuanzhang@xjtu.edu.cn

mingming.zhang@xjtu.edu.cn

Received Date: 1 March 2025
Revised Date: 30 April 2025
Accepted Date: 14 May 2025
Available Online: 16 June 2025

Figures(7)

Photocatalytic hydrogen evolution is a promising method for sustainable fuel production, but the efficiency of metal-organic complexes (MOCs) as photocatalysts is often limited by their poor light absorption, rapid exciton recombination, and aggregation. To address these challenges, we encapsulated Pt-based MOCs within porphyrin-based metallacages, which not only prevent the aggregation of catalysts but also enable effective electron transfer from the photosensitive metallacages to the photocatalysts. The structures of the host-guest complexes were confirmed by single-crystal X-ray diffraction, and one complex achieved a hydrogen generation rate of 19,786.5 µmol g⁻¹ h⁻¹, which was among the highest values in metallacage-based photocatalytic systems. Femtosecond transient absorption and DFT calculations revealed that the enhanced performance is due to efficient photoinduced electron transfer from the porphyrin units to the Pt catalytic centers. This work demonstrates a new approach to integrating photosensitizers and photocatalysts via host-guest complexation, offering an effective pathway to improve photocatalytic hydrogen production.
- Host–guest interactions,
- Porphyrin,
- Metallacages,
- Photocatalytic hydrogen production,
- Electron transfer
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