Photoelectrochemical Responses of Gold Electrodes Co-modified with Sulfur-Containing Ruthenium Tris(2,2′-bipyridine) and Viologen Derivatives

Gold electrodes co-modified with a sulfur-containing ruthenium tris(2,2′-bipyridine) homologue (RuS) and/or a viologen derivative (SC3V), and hexadecylmercaptane (C16SH) were prepared. In the presence of triethanolamine, the RuS-SC3V-C16SH modified electrode gave a larger anodic photocurrent than the RuS-C16SH modified one. The photocurrent was ascribed to RuS-sensitized redox cycles with SC3V as the mediator.