Particle-size effects on the photocurrent efficiency of nanostructured assemblies consisting of gold nanoparticles and a ruthenium complex–viologen linked thiol

Photoelectrochemical assemblies consisting of gold nanoparticles and a tris(2,2′-bipyridine)ruthenium(II)–viologen linked disulfide derivative ([RuVS]2) were constructed on gold electrodes, by a combination of salting-out and self-assembly processes. Structural characterization of the nanostructured assemblies was carried out by scanning electron microscopy and cyclic voltammetry. The adsorbed amount of the tris(2,2′-bipyridine)ruthenium(II)–viologen linked moiety (RuVS) was fairly well correlated with the ratio of the total gold surface area of the nanostructured electrode. Nanostructured assemblies consisting of ∼50 to ∼<100 nm particles showed high photocurrent efficiencies.