Prospects for the use of polymethine dyes as sensitizers for semiconductors.

Abstract

The creation of efficient photocatalytic systems based on TiO2, which are sensitive to visible and near-IR light, is a significant step towards solving critical issues such as converting solar radiation into electrical energy and environmental protection through the photo detoxification of technogenic pollutants. However, the practical implementation of these possibilities is hindered by the electron-hole recombination process. To mitigate this, various modifications to photocatalytic systems are used, such as adding electron and hole carriers, depositing metals or their oxides onto semiconductors, and utilizing nanoparticles with quantum size effects as photocatalysts. Special attention is given to functional materials based on "photocatalytic blocks", where a dye-sensitizer (D) applied to a semiconductor-photocatalyst in the required quantity is covered with a polymer film that prevents its dissolution without interfering with the electron processes at the interface. These heterostructures (HS) represent one of the promising directions for designing photocatalytically active materials with an expanded light sensitivity range. The aim of the study. This research investigates new HS based on TiO2 and a dye- sensitizer from the class of cationic asymmetric polymethine dyes with varying lengths of the polymethine chain.