| 1. |
- Favereau, Ludovic, et al.
(författare)
-
A Molecular Tetrad That Generates a High-Energy Charge-Separated State by Mimicking the Photosynthetic Z-Scheme
- 2016
-
Ingår i: Journal of the American Chemical Society. - : American Chemical Society (ACS). - 0002-7863 .- 1520-5126. ; 138:11, s. 3752-3760
-
Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- The oxygenic photosynthesis of green plants, green algae, and cyanobacteria is the major provider of energy rich compounds in the biosphere. The so-called "Z-scheme" is at the heart of this "engine of life". Two photosystems (photo system I and II) work in series to build up a higher redox ability than each photosystem alone can provide, which is necessary to drive water oxidation into oxygen and NADP(+) reduction into NADPH with visible light. Here we show a mimic of the Z-scheme with a molecular tetrad. The "tetrad Bodipy-NDI-TAPD-Ru is composed of two different dyes-4,4-difluoro-1,3,5,7-tetramethyl-2,6-diethy1-4-bora-3a,4a-diaza-s-indacene (Bodipy) and a Ru-II(bipyridine), (Ru) derivative-which are connected to a naphthalene diimide (NDI) electron acceptor and tetraalkylphenyldiamine (TAPD) playing the role of electron donor. A strong laser pulse excitation of visible light where the two dye molecules (Ru and Bodipy) absorb with equal probability leads to the cooperative formation of a highly energetic charge-separated state composed of an oxidized Bodipy and a reduced Ru. The latter state cannot be reached by one single photon absorption. The energy of the final charge-separated state (oxidized Bodipy/reduced Ru) in the tetrad lies higher than that in the reference dyads (Bodipy-NDI and TAPD-Ru), leading to the energy efficiency of the tetrad being 47% of the sum of the photon threshold energies. Its lifetime was increased by several orders of magnitude compared to that in the reference dyads Bodipy-NDI and TAPD-Ru, as it passes from about 3 ns in each dyad to 850 ns in the tetrad. The overall quantum yield formation of this extended charge-separated state is estimated to be 24%. Our proof-of-concept result demonstrates the capability to translate a crucial photosynthetic energy conversion principle into man-made molecular systems for solar fuel formation, to obtain products of higher energy content than those produced by a single photon absorption.
|
|
| 2. |
- Favereau, Ludovic, et al.
(författare)
-
Tris-bipyridine based dinuclear ruthenium(II)--osmium(III) complex dyads grafted onto TiO2 nanoparticles for mimicking the artificial photosynthetic Z-scheme
- 2017
-
Ingår i: Physical Chemistry, Chemical Physics - PCCP. - : Royal Society of Chemistry. - 1463-9076 .- 1463-9084. ; 19:6, s. 4778-4786
-
Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- The Z-Scheme function within molecular systems has been rarely reported for solar energy conversion although it offers the possibility to achieve higher efficiency than single photon absorber photosystems due to the use of a wider range of visible light. In this study, we synthesized and investigated the electrochemical and spectroscopic properties of two new dyads based on ruthenium and osmium tris-bipyridine complexes covalently linked via a butane bridge to explore their ability to realize the Z-scheme function once immobilized on TiO2. These dyads can be grafted onto a nanocrystalline TiO2 film via the osmium complex bearing two dicarboxylic acid bipyridine ligands, while the ruthenium complex contains either two unsubstituted bipyridine ancillary ligands (RuH-Os) or two (4,4'-bis-trifluoro-methyl-bipyridine) ancillary ligands (RuCF3-Os). Transient absorption spectroscopy studies of the Ru(II)-Os(III) dyads with femtosecond and nanosecond lasers were conducted both in solution and on TiO2. For both conditions, the photophysical studies revealed that the MLCT excited state of the ruthenium complex is strongly quenched and predominantly decays by energy transfer to the LMCT of the adjacent Os(III) complex, in spite of the high driving force for electron transfer. This unexpected result, which is in sharp contrast to previously reported Ru(II)-Os(III) dyads, precluded us to achieve the expected Z-scheme function. However, the above results may be a guide for designing new artificial molecular systems reproducing the complex function of a Z-scheme with molecular systems grafted onto a TiO2 mesoporous film.
|
|
| 3. |
|
|
| 4. |
- Zhang, Lei, et al.
(författare)
-
Molecular-structure control of electron transferdynamics of push–pull porphyrins as sensitizers forNiO based dye sensitized solar cells
- 2016
-
Ingår i: RSC Advances. - : Royal Society of Chemistry (RSC). - 2046-2069. ; 6:81, s. 77184-77194
-
Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Porphyrin dyes were synthesized for use in p-type (NiO) dye sensitized solar cells based on different designprinciples. One porphyrin was designed with a significant charge transfer character in the excited statebecause of push–pull effects of the substituents. Another porphyrin had instead an appended NDIacceptor group (NDI ¼ naphthalene diimide). The dyes were characterized by spectroscopic,electrochemical and DFT methods. Solar cells based on sensitized, meso-porous NiO showed ratherpoor performance compared to other organic dyes, but with a clear improvement for the dye with theNDI acceptor. Ultrafast transient absorption spectroscopy and nanosecond laser photolysis showed thathole injection into NiO was followed by unusually rapid charge recombination, predominantly ona 50–100 ps time scale, which is likely the main reason for the poor photovoltaic performance. Againthe porphyrin with the NDI group showed a more long-lived charge separation that should lead to betterdye regeneration in a solar cell, which can explain its better photovoltaic performance.
|
|
| 5. |
- Zhang, Lei, et al.
(författare)
-
Ultrafast and slow charge recombination dynamics of diketopyrrolopyrrole–NiO dye sensitized solar cells
- 2016
-
Ingår i: Physical Chemistry, Chemical Physics - PCCP. - : Royal Society of Chemistry (RSC). - 1463-9076 .- 1463-9084. ; 18, s. 18515-18527
-
Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- In a photophysical study, two diketopyrrolopyrrole (DPP)-based sensitizers functionalized with4-thiophenecarboxylic acid as an anchoring group and a bromo (DPPBr) or dicyanovinyl (DPPCN2)group, and a dyad consisting of a DPP unit linked to a naphthalenediimide group (DPP–NDI), wereinvestigated both in solution and grafted on mesoporous NiO films. Femtosecond transient absorptionmeasurements indicate that ultrafast hole injection occurred predominantly on a timescale of B200 fs,whereas the subsequent charge recombination occurred on a surprisingly wide range of timescales,from tens of ps to tens of ms; this kinetic heterogeneity is much greater than is typically observed fordye-sensitized TiO2 or ZnO. Also, in contrast to what is typically observed for dye-sensitized TiO2, therewas no significant dependence on the excitation power of the recombination kinetics, which can beexplained by the hole density being comparatively higher near the valence band of NiO beforeexcitation. The additional acceptor group in DPP–NDI provided a rapid electron shift and stabilizedcharge separation up to the ms timescale. This enabled efficient (B95%) regeneration of NDI bya CoIII(dtb)3 electrolyte (dtb = 4,40-di-tert-butyl-2,20-bipyridine), according to transient absorptionmeasurements. The regeneration of DPPBr and DPPCN2 by CoIII(dtb)3 was instead inefficient, as mostrecombination for these dyes occurred on the sub-ns timescale. The transient spectroscopy data thuscorroborated the trend of the published photovoltaic properties of dye-sensitized solar cells (DSSCs)based on these dyes on mesoporous NiO, and show the potential of a design strategy with a secondaryacceptor bound to the dye. The study identifies rapid initial recombination between the dye and NiO asthe main obstacle to obtaining high efficiencies in NiO-based DSSCs; these recombination componentsmay be overlooked when studies are conducted using only methods with ns resolution or slower.
|
|
