Nanoscopic heterogeneities in adsorption and electron transfer processes of perylene diimide dye on TiO2 nanoparticles studied by single-molecule fluorescence spectroscopy

Solid-State Infrared Upconversion in Perylene Diimides Followed by Direct Electron Injection

In this contribution we demonstrate a solid-state approach to triplet-triplet annihilation upconversion for application in a solar cell device in which absorption of near-infrared light is followed by direct electron injection into an inorganic substrate. We use time-resolved microwave photoconductivity experiments to study the injection of electrons into the electron-accepting substrate (TiO₂) in a trilayer device consisting of a triplet sensitizer (fluorinated zinc phthalocyanine), triplet acceptor (methyl subsituted perylenediimide), and smooth polycrystalline TiO₂. Absorption of light at 700 nm leads to the almost quantitative generation of triplet excited states by intersystem crossing. This is followed by Dexter energy transfer to the triplet acceptor layer where triplet annihilation occurs and concludes by injection of an electron into TiO₂ from the upconverted singlet excited state.

Probing single-molecule electron-hole transfer dynamics at a molecule-NiO semiconductor nanocrystalline interface

Interfacial charge transfer dynamics in dye-sensitized NiO nanoparticles are being investigated for photocathodes in p-type dye-sensitized solar cells. In the photoreaction, after fast electron transfer from NiO to a molecule, the recombination of the hole in the nanoparticles with the electron in a reduced molecule plays an important role in the charge separation process and solar energy harvesting. Nevertheless, knowledge of the interfacial charge recombination (CR) rate and its mechanism is still limited due to the complex photoinduced electron and hole dynamics and lack of characterization of the inhomogeneity of the dynamics. Here, we report our work on probing interfacial charge recombination dynamics in Zn(ii)-5,10,15,20-tetra(3-carboxyphenyl)porphyrin (m-ZnTCPP) dye-sensitized NiO nanoparticles by correlating single-molecule fluorescence blinking dynamics with charge transfer dynamics using single-molecule photon-stamping spectroscopy. The correlated analyses of single-molecule fluorescence intensity, lifetime, and blinking reveal the intrinsic distribution and temporal fluctuation of interfacial charge transfer reactivity, which are closely related to site-specific molecular interactions and dynamics.

Probing the Relative Photoinjection Yields of Monomer and Aggregated Dyes into ZnO Crystals

Cyanine dyes, often used in dye-sensitized solar cells (DSSCs), form a range of molecular species from monomers to large H and J aggregates in both solution and when adsorbed at a photoelectrode surface. To determine the relative capability of the different dye species to inject photoexcited electrons into a wideband gap oxide semiconductor, sensitization at a single-crystal zinc oxide surface was studied by simultaneous attenuated reflection (ATR) ultraviolet-visible (UV-vis) absorption and photocurrent spectroscopy measurements. ATR measurements enable identification of the dye species populating the surface with simultaneous photocurrent spectroscopy to identify the contribution of the various dye forms to photocurrent signal. We study the dye 2,2'-carboxymethylthiodicarbocyanine bromide that is particularly prone to aggregation both in solution and at the surface of sensitized oxide semiconductors.

Ultrafast, Light-Induced Electron Transfer in a Perylene Diimide Chromophore-Donor Assembly on TiO2

Surface-bound, perylenediimide (PDI)-based molecular assemblies have been synthesized on nanocrystalline TiO2 by reaction of a dianhydride with a surface-bound aniline and succinimide bonding. In a second step, the Fe(II) polypyridyl complex [Fe(II)(tpy-PhNH2)2](2+) was added to the outside of the film, also by succinimide bonding. Ultrafast transient absorption measurements in 0.1 M HClO4 reveal that electron injection into TiO2 by (1)PDI* does not occur, but rather leads to the ultrafast formation of the redox-separated pair PDI(•+),PDI(•-), which decays with complex kinetics (τ1 = 0.8 ps, τ2 = 15 ps, and τ3 = 1500 ps). With the added Fe(II) polypyridyl complex, rapid (<25 ps) oxidation of Fe(II) by the PDI(•+),PDI(•-) redox pair occurs to give Fe(III),PDI(•-) persisting for >400 μs in the film environment.

Extension of the diffusion controlled electron transfer theory for intermittent fluorescence of quantum dots: inclusion of biexcitons and the difference of "on" and "off" time distributions

The equations for the diffusion controlled electron transfer (DCET) theory of quantum dot blinking are extended to include biexcitons. In contrast to excitons, which undego resonant light to dark transitions, the biexcitons, having a much larger total energy, undergo a Fermi's Golden rule type transfer (many acceptance states). The latter immediately gives rise to an exponential tail for the light state, and it is explained why the dark state power law behavior is unaffected. Results are given for both continuous and pulsed excitation. The typical -3/2 power law for the light state at low light intensities, and for the dark state at all intensities, as well as dependence of the exponential tail on the square of the light intensity, and a decrease of the power in the power law for the light state from -3/2 to less negative values with increasing light intensity are all consistent with the theory. The desirability of measuring the dependence of the spectral diffusion coefficient on light intensity at room temperature as a test of several aspects of the theory is noted.

Photoinduced electron transfer of oxazine 1/TiO2 nanoparticles at single molecule level by using confocal fluorescence microscopy

Kinetics of photoinduced electron transfer (ET) from oxazine 1 dye to TiO(2) nanoparticles (NPs) surface is studied at a single molecule level by using confocal fluorescence microscopy. Upon irradiation with a pulsed laser at 630 nm, the fluorescence lifetimes sampled among 100 different dye molecules are determined to yield an average lifetime of 2.9 +/- 0.3 ns, which is close to the value of 3.0 +/- 0.6 ns measured on the bare coverslip. The lifetime proximity suggests that most interfacial electron transfer (IFET) processes for the current system are inefficient, probably caused by physisorption between dye and the TiO(2) film. However, there might exist some molecules which are quenched before fluorescing and fail to be detected. With the aid of autocorrelation analysis under a three-level energy system, the IFET kinetics of single dye molecules in the conduction band of TiO(2) NPs is evaluated to be (1.0 +/- 0.1) x 10(4) s(-1) averaged over 100 single molecules and the back ET rate constant is 4.7 +/- 0.9 s(-1). When a thicker TiO(2) film is substituted, the resultant kinetic data do not make a significant difference. The trend of IFET efficacy agrees with the method of fluorescence lifetime measurements. The obtained forward ET rate constants are about ten times smaller than the photovoltage response measured in an assembled dye-sensitized solar cell. The discrepancy is discussed. The inhomogeneous and fluctuation characters for the IFET process are attributed to microenvironment variation for each single molecule. The obtained ET rates are much slower than the fluorescence relaxation. Such a small ET quantum yield is yet feasibly detectable at a single molecule level.

Single-molecule fluorescence imaging of TiO(2) photocatalytic reactions

Heterogeneous photocatalysts have both potential and demonstrated applications for use in the water-splitting reaction that produces hydrogen, the degradation of organic pollutants, the surface wettability conversion, etc. In this feature article, we have focused on the in-site observation of various reactive oxygen species (ROS), such as singlet oxygen ((1)O(2)) and the hydroxyl radical ((*)OH), generated by the photoexcitation of TiO(2) nanomaterials using single-molecule fluorescence spectroscopy. The spatially resolved photoluminescence (PL) imaging techniques enable us to determine the location of the (photo)catalytically active sites that are related to the heterogeneously distributed defects on the surface. We also present the results that revealed the formation and reaction dynamics of the photogenerated charge carriers in individual TiO(2) nanoparticles. Furthermore, we introduce the single-molecule single-mismatch detection of the nucleotide sequence upon the photoexcitation of a novel nanoconjugate consisting of TiO(2) and DNA on the basis of the mechanistic aspects. Notably, the present conjugates can recognize the difference in a single nucleotide. Consequently, this article provides a significant opportunity to understand the temporal and spatial distributions of ROS generated during the photoirradiation of TiO(2) nanomaterials and directly explore the microscopic world in many fields ranging from fundamental physics and chemistry to practical applications.