title: Conducting polymer nanostructures for photocatalysis under visible light.
abstract: Visible-light-responsive photocatalysts can directly harvest energy from solar light, offering a desirable way to solve energy and environment issues. Here, we show that one-dimensional poly(diphenylbutadiyne) nanostructures synthesized by photopolymerization using a soft templating approach have high photocatalytic activity under visible light without the assistance of sacrificial reagents or precious metal co-catalysts. These polymer nanostructures are very stable even after repeated cycling. Transmission electron microscopy and nanoscale infrared characterizations reveal that the morphology and structure of the polymer nanostructures remain unchanged after many photocatalytic cycles. These stable and cheap polymer nanofibres are easy to process and can be reused without appreciable loss of activity. Our findings may help the development of semiconducting-based polymers for applications in self-cleaning surfaces, hydrogen generation and photovoltaics.
authors.affiliation: Laboratoire de Chimie Physique, UMR 8000-CNRS, Bât. 349, Université Paris-Sud, 91405 Orsay, France.
authors.forename: Srabanti
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Ghosh
authors.affiliation: Laboratoire de Chimie Physique, UMR 8000-CNRS, Bât. 349, Université Paris-Sud, 91405 Orsay, France.
authors.forename: Natalie A
authors.initials: NA
authors.lastname: Kouamé
authors.affiliation: Laboratoire Charles Coulomb (L2C) UMR 5221 CNRS-Université de Montpellier, 34095 Montpellier, France.
authors.forename: Laurence
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Ramos
authors.affiliation: 1] Laboratoire de Chimie Physique, UMR 8000-CNRS, Bât. 349, Université Paris-Sud, 91405 Orsay, France [2] Départment CASER, Ecole SITI, Conservatoire National des Arts et Métiers, CNAM, 292 rue Saint-Martin, 75141 Paris Cedex 03, France.
authors.forename: Samy
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Remita
authors.affiliation: Laboratoire de Chimie Physique, UMR 8000-CNRS, Bât. 349, Université Paris-Sud, 91405 Orsay, France.
authors.forename: Alexandre
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Dazzi
authors.affiliation: Laboratoire de Chimie Physique, UMR 8000-CNRS, Bât. 349, Université Paris-Sud, 91405 Orsay, France.
authors.forename: Ariane
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Deniset-Besseau
authors.affiliation: 1] Sorbonne Universités, UPMC Univ. Paris 06, UMR 7197-CNRS, Laboratoire de Réactivité de Surface, F-75005 Paris, France [2] CNRS, UMR 7197, Laboratoire de Réactivité de Surface, F-75005 Paris, France.
authors.forename: Patricia
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Beaunier
authors.affiliation: Laboratoire de Physicochimie des Polymères et des Interfaces (LPPI), Université de Cergy-Pontoise, 95031 Cergy-Pontoise Cedex, France.
authors.forename: Fabrice
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Goubard
authors.affiliation: Laboratoire de Physicochimie des Polymères et des Interfaces (LPPI), Université de Cergy-Pontoise, 95031 Cergy-Pontoise Cedex, France.
authors.forename: Pierre-Henri
authors.initials: PH
authors.lastname: Aubert
authors.affiliation: 1] Laboratoire de Chimie Physique, UMR 8000-CNRS, Bât. 349, Université Paris-Sud, 91405 Orsay, France [2] CNRS, Laboratoire de Chimie Physique, UMR 8000, 91405 Orsay, France.
authors.forename: Hynd
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Remita