“Design Strategy for Heteroleptic Ir(III) Photosensitizers with Spatially Separated Excited Electrons toward Efficient CO₂ Reduction” Published in Artificial Photosynthesis

In a collaborative study with Prof. Maeda at Tokyo Institute of Science, we demonstrated that molecular-level control of the spatial localization of photoexcited electrons in molecular photosensitizers immobilized on semiconductor surfaces directly improves the efficiency of photocatalytic CO₂ reduction. The results have been published in Artificial Photosynthesis.

From our lab, Mr. Oura(M1) and Mr. Nagao(M2) played central roles by performing in-situ spectroscopic measurements and analyzing the decay dynamics of the one-electron-reduced species formed in the photocatalytic system, thereby contributing to elucidating interfacial charge-recombination pathways and validating the proposed molecular design principle.

“Design Strategy for Heteroleptic Ir(III) Photosensitizers with Spatially Separated Excited Electrons toward Efficient CO₂ Reduction”
Toshiya Tanaka, Masahito Oura, Rikuya Nagao, Joe Onodera, Yusuke Kuramochi, Ken Onda, Osamu Ishitani, Kazuhiko Maeda
Artif. Photosynth. in press 2026.