Preparation and photoelectrochemical properties of a self-assembled film based on wheel type polyoxomolybdate and hemicyanine derivative.

A new electrostatically self-assembled film has been successfully prepared on quartz and indium-tin-oxide (ITO) coated glass substrates by alternating adsorption of a wheel-shaped polyoxomolybdate {Mo154} and a hemicyanine of (E)-1,1'-methylenebis(4-(4-(dimethylamino)styryl)pyridinium) bromide (H1). The UV-visible spectra demonstrated that the film was uniform, reproducible, and the H1 in the film forms the J-aggregation. Photoelectrochemical investigations showed that the films can generate stable cathodic photocurrent, and the cathodic photocurrent density of three-layer film was 5.1 microA/cm2 while irradiated with 100 mW/cm2 polychromatic light of 730 nm > lambda > 325 nm at an applied potential of -0.3 V versus saturated calomel electrode.