Key points are not available for this paper at this time.
Photooxidation of water by a titanyl phthalocyanine (TiOPc) layer deposited on fused silica plates was investigated with excitation to the Soret and Q bands of the absorption spectrum. Partial water photolysis, evidenced by hydroxyl radical dosimeters, occurs upon excitation within the Soret absorption band but is absent upon excitation to the Q band. These results confirm the first step of the mechanism of photoinduced partial water splitting proposed theoretically by Sobolewski and Domcke (Phys. Chem. Chem. Phys. 2012, 14, 12807–12817). The photocatalytic water splitting occurs without external voltage or pH bias. TiOPc is found to be a more efficient photocatalyst for partial water oxidation than the previously reported titanyl tetraphenylporphyrin.
Morawski et al. (Sun,) studied this question.