Vol.:(0123456789) Research on Chemical Intermediates https://doi.org/10.1007/s11164-019-03911-3 1 3 Photophysical properties of a perylene derivative for use as catalyst in ethanol eletrooxidation Paulo José Sousa Maia 1,2  · Julianna Ferreira Cruz 1  · Flávio Augusto de Freitas 3  · Sinara de Fátima Freire dos Santos 4  · Elson Almeida de Souza 1 Received: 6 January 2019 / Accepted: 20 June 2019 © Springer Nature B.V. 2019 Abstract The optical, electrochemical, and electronic properties of a perylene derivative, N, N′ -bis(5-amino-1,10-phenanthroline)perylene-3,4,9,10-tetracarboxidiimide (pPDIp), have been investigated. The optical properties were investigated by fuo- rescence and absorption spectroscopies. The efect of solvent polarity on the optical properties showed that the Stokes shift increased with decreasing solvent polarity, from 252 cm −1 in dimethylformamide to 1011 cm −1 in acetone, indicating greater stability of intramolecular charge transfer (ICT) species in nonpolar solvents, which suggests signifcant changes in interactions with more compared with less polar sol- vents. The use of pPDIp as a catalyst in direct ethanol fuel cells was also investi- gated, using cyclic voltammetry and chronoamperometry. The electrochemical data indicated that pPDIp dispersed in Pt/C (Pt/C:pPDIp) can be used as a catalyst in ethanol electrooxidation, showing catalytic activity analogous to that of metal Pt/C- based catalysts. Direct scanning indicated that the peak current density for the 2:1 Pt/C:pPDIp catalyst was higher than that for mixed catalysts. In addition, chrono- amperometry data indicated better catalytic activity at 0.6 V for Pt/C:pPDIp-based catalysts. Keywords Perylene derivatives · Photophysics · Intramolecular charge transfer · Molecular orbital · Direct ethanol fuel cells Electronic supplementary material The online version of this article (https://doi.org/10.1007/s1116 4-019-03911-3) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users. * Paulo José Sousa Maia pmldcb@gmail.com 1 Instituto de Ciências Exatas e Tecnologia, Universidade Federal do Amazonas, Itacoatiara, AM, Brazil 2 Campus Macaé, Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro, Macaé, RJ, Brazil 3 Department of Petroleum Engineering, Curtin University, Perth, Australia 4 Faculdade Pitágoras, São Luis, MA, Brazil