Some aspects of photochemical systems for direct light-induced hydrogen production

Various possible pathways for photochemical conversion of light energy, including light-induced electron transfer and hydride transfer, are described. Several problems diminishing the photoconversion efficiency as well as side reactions affecting the stability of these systems are discussed. Oxidation of photosensitizers by singlet oxygen as well as attack by OH radicals is supposed to be the main degradation pathway for dyes and for the photoinduced reactions. The stability of viologens (acting as electron transfer agents) is mainly affected by hydrogenation, for which a reaction mechanism is presented. The dependence of rate constants on the free enthalpy of reaction is discussed with respect to quantum yields for light energy conversion. Following this, quantum yields of cyclic water splitting based on diffusion-controlled reactions are very low. Selective catalysis or vectorial processes (with a spatial charge separation) could enhance the quantum yields.