Modular Assembly of High-Potential Zinc Porphyrin Photosensitizers Attached to TiO2 with a Series of Anchoring Groups

Efforts to improve the ease of assembly and robustness of photoanodes for light-driven water oxidation have led to the development of a modular assembly method for anchoring high-potential zinc porphyrins to TiO2 via coordination to surface-bound pyridine linkers. It is essential that the anchoring groups provide strong electronic coupling between the molecular dye and metal oxide surface for optimal electron injection and that they are robust under the operating conditions of the system. Here, four linker molecules functionalized with either carboxylate, phosphonate, acetylacetonate, or hydroxamate anchoring groups are compared for their relative water stability on TiO2. We also report the relative electron injection efficiencies, as measured by terahertz spectroscopy, for high-potential zinc porphyrins coordinated to TiO2 via pyridyl linkers with the series of anchoring groups.