Supramolecular organic nanofibers with highly efficient and stable visible light photooxidation performance

The development of organic materials for visible light driven photocatalytic is regarded as one of the most promising avenues to solve environment and solar-energy utilization issue. Here, we present that one-dimensional supramolecular organic nanofibers, self-assembled by a carboxy-substituent perylene diimide (PDI) molecule through H-type pi-pi stacking and hydrogen bonding, can act as a robust and effective photocatalyst for both organic pollutants degradation and water oxidation under visible light without the apparent need for an added metal co-catalysts. We corroborate that the highly efficient and stable activity of such supramolecar photocatalyst are attributed to the introduction of terminal carboxyl group, which leads to well-defined and stable H-type pi-pi stacking, and constructs the internal electric field in supramolecular nanofibers, thereby resulting in the deepening of valence band (VB) and the enhancement of migration and separation efficiency of photo-induced charge carriers. Our findings may help the development of semiconducting-based organic supramolecular materials for applications in environment protection and water splitting. (C) 2016 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.