Singlet Oxygen Production of Photocatalytic Ir(III) Complex Impregnated unto Zeolite NaY Supercages

Trivalent iridium complexes have been recently studied due to the extent of its overlap with the solar spectrum as well as the accessibility of its ligand-ligand charge transfer (LLCT) transition in the UV region. Entrapment of the complex inside faujasitic zeolite NaY converts the dye molecule into a heterogeneous catalyst that has greater stability and usability than the free complex. Ship-in-a-bottle assemblies of trisphenanthroline iridium (III) complex unto zeolite NaY were found to produce singlet oxygen upon illumination. The possible use of these solid-state catalyst for waste water treatment was examined by using 9,10-dimethylanthracene (DMA) as a chemical trap for singlet oxygen. The degradation spectra was observed to be pseudo-first order with respect to DMA. Varying the time of illumination showed that the amount of DMA degraded was directly dependent on the length of UV irradiation.