Ruthenium complexes [RuII (bpy) 3] Cl2, [RuIII (H2O) (NH3) 5] Cl3, [RuIIICl (NH3) 5] Cl2, [(bpy) 2 (NO2) RuIIIORuIII (NO2) (bpy) 2] (ClO4) 2 and [(bpy) 2 (H2O) RuIIIORuIII (H2) (bpy) 2] (ClO4) 4 were used for the visible-light photocatalysts in the decomposition ofwater.
The photocatalysts were systematized in an ITO/Nf (Ru (bpy) 3) /Pt/Me multilayer, where Me represents [RuIII (H2O) (NH3) 5] Cl3, [RuIIICl (NH3) 5] Cl2, [(bpy) 2 (NO2) RuIIIORuIII (NO2) (bpy) 2] (ClO4) 2, or [(bpy) 2 (H2O) RuIIIORuIII (H2O) (bpy) 2] (ClO4) 4, and Nf (Ru (bpy) 3) denotes the [RuII (bpy) 3] ion incorporated into Nafion (ion-exchange membrane). Whenthe ITO (electrically conductive glass) was polarized anodically and irradiated with visiblelight, water was oxidized to form oxygen on the Me area