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- Kunnus, Kristjan, et al.
(författare)
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A setup for resonant inelastic soft x-ray scattering on liquids at free electron laser light sources
- 2012
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Ingår i: Review of Scientific Instruments. - : AIP Publishing. - 1089-7623 .- 0034-6748. ; 83:12
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- We present a flexible and compact experimental setup that combines an in vacuum liquid jet with an x-ray emission spectrometer to enable static and femtosecond time-resolved resonant inelastic soft x-ray scattering (RIXS) measurements from liquids at free electron laser (FEL) light sources. We demonstrate the feasibility of this type of experiments with the measurements performed at the Linac Coherent Light Source FEL facility. At the FEL we observed changes in the RIXS spectra at high peak fluences which currently sets a limit to maximum attainable count rate at FELs. The setup presented here opens up new possibilities to study the structure and dynamics in liquids. (C) 2012 American Institute of Physics. [http://dx.doi.org/10.1063/1.4772685]
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2. |
- Kunnus, Kristjan, et al.
(författare)
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Anti-Stokes resonant x-ray Raman scattering for atom specific and excited state selective dynamics
- 2016
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Ingår i: New Journal of Physics. - : IOP Publishing. - 1367-2630. ; 18
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Ultrafast electronic and structural dynamics of matter govern rate and selectivity of chemical reactions, as well as phase transitions and efficient switching in functional materials. Since x-rays determine electronic and structural properties with elemental, chemical, orbital and magnetic selectivity, short pulse x-ray sources have become central enablers of ultrafast science. Despite of these strengths, ultrafast x-rays have been poor at picking up excited state moieties from the unexcited ones. With time-resolved anti-Stokes resonant x-ray Raman scattering (AS-RXRS) performed at the LCLS, and ab initio theory we establish background free excited state selectivity in addition to the elemental, chemical, orbital and magnetic selectivity of x-rays. This unparalleled selectivity extracts low concentration excited state species along the pathway of photo induced ligand exchange of Fe(CO)(5) in ethanol. Conceptually a full theoretical treatment of all accessible insights to excited state dynamics with AS-RXRS with transform-limited x-ray pulses is given-which will be covered experimentally by upcoming transform-limited x-ray sources.
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4. |
- Oum, Kawon, et al.
(författare)
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Electron and hole transfer dynamics of a triarylamine-based dye with peripheral hole acceptors on TiO2 in the absence and presence of solvent
- 2014
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Ingår i: Physical Chemistry, Chemical Physics - PCCP. - : Royal Society of Chemistry (RSC). - 1463-9076 .- 1463-9084. ; 16:17, s. 8019-8029
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- We investigated photoinduced primary charge transfer processes of the sensitizer E6 on TiO2 without solvent and in contact with the organic solvent acetonitrile and the ionic liquid 1-ethyl-3-methylimidazolium tetracyanoborate [C(2)mim](+)[B(CN)(4)]-using transient absorption spectroscopy, spectroelectrochemistry, and DFT/TDDFT calculations. E6, which belongs to a family of triarylamine dyes for solar cell applications, features two peripheral triarylamine units which are connected via diether spacer groups to the core chromophore and are designed to act as hole traps. This function was confirmed by spectroelectrochemistry, where the E6(circle+) radical cation shows a considerably blue-shifted absorption compared to dyes without these two substituents. This indicates that one of the terminal triarylamine units must carry the positive charge. After photoexcitation of E6 at 520 nm (S-0 > S-1 band), electrons are injected into TiO2 predominantly within the cross-correlation time (<80 fs), with some subsequent delayed electron injection (tau ca. 250 fs). Importantly, a transient Stark shift (electrochromism) is observed (time constants ca. 0.8 and 12 ps) which is related to a changing electric field generated by the E6(circle+) radical cations and injected electrons. This field induces absorption shifts of the dye species on the surface. Interestingly, these dynamics are largely unaffected by solvent molecules. However, pronounced differences are observed on longer timescales. In contact with solvent, one observes an increase in the E6(circle+) absorption band above 600 nm with a time constant of 75 ps. This is assigned to hole transfer from the core chromophore to one of the peripheral triarylamine substituents. Electron-cation recombination occurs on much longer timescales and is multiexponential, with time constants of ca. 100 mu s, 1 ms and 15 ms. Because of hole trapping, it is slower than for similar dyes lacking the peripheral triarylamines. Additional experiments were performed for E6 attached to the wide band gap semiconductor ZrO2. Here, electron injection occurs into surface trap states with subsequent recombination. Another fraction of non-injecting E6 molecules in S-1 quickly decays to S-0 (time constants 1 and 35 ps).
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5. |
- Oum, Kawon, et al.
(författare)
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Photoinduced ultrafast dynamics of the triphenylamine-based organic sensitizer D35 on TiO2, ZrO2 and in acetonitrile
- 2013
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Ingår i: Physical Chemistry, Chemical Physics - PCCP. - : Royal Society of Chemistry (RSC). - 1463-9076 .- 1463-9084. ; 15:11, s. 3906-3916
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- The relaxation dynamics of the dye D35 has been characterized by transient absorption spectroscopy in acetonitrile and on TiO2 and ZrO2 thin films. In acetonitrile, upon photoexcitation of the dye via the S-0 -> S-1 transition, we observed ultrafast solvation dynamics with subpicosecond time constants. Subsequent decay of the S-1 excited state absorption (ESA) band with a 7.1 ps time constant is tentatively assigned to structural relaxation in the excited state, and a spectral decay with 203 ps time constant results from internal conversion (IC) back to S-0. On TiO2, we observed fast (<90 fs) electron injection from the S-1 state of D35 into the TiO2 conduction band, followed by a biphasic dynamics arising from changes in a transient Stark field at the interface, with time constants of 0.8 and 12 ps, resulting in a characteristic blue-shift of the S-0 -> S-1 absorption band. Several processes can contribute to this spectral shift: (i) photoexcitation induces immediate formation of D35(center dot+) radical cations, which initially form electron-cation complexes; (ii) dissociation of these complexes generates mobile electrons, and when they start diffusing in the mesoporous TiO2, the local electrostatic field may change; (iii) this may trigger the reorientation of D35 molecules in the changing electric field. A slower spectral decay on a nanosecond timescale is interpreted as a reduction of the local Stark field, as mobile electrons move deeper into TiO2 and are progressively screened. Multiexponential electron-cation recombination occurs on much longer timescales, with time constants of 30 mu s, 170 mu s and 1.4 ms. For D35 adsorbed on ZrO2, there is no clear evidence for a transient Stark shift, which suggests that initially formed cation-electron (trap state) complexes do not dissociate to form mobile conduction band electrons. Multiexponential decay with time constants of 4, 35, and 550 ps is assigned to recombination between cations and trapped electrons, and also to a fraction of D35 molecules in S-1 which decay by IC to S-0. Differential steady-state absorption spectra of D35(center dot+) in acetonitrile and dichloromethane provide access to the complete D-0 -> D-1 band. The absorption spectra of D35 and D35(center dot+) are well described by TDDFT calculations employing the MPW1K functional.
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6. |
- Scholz, Mirko, et al.
(författare)
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Ultrafast electron and hole transfer dynamics of a solar cell dye containing hole acceptors on mesoporous TiO2 and Al2O3
- 2017
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Ingår i: Physical Chemistry, Chemical Physics - PCCP. - : Royal Society of Chemistry. - 1463-9076 .- 1463-9084. ; 19:10, s. 7158-7166
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- The stability of dye cations against recombination with conduction band electrons in mesoporous TiO2 electrodes is a key property for improving light harvesting in dye-sensitised solar cells. Using ultrafast transient broadband absorption spectroscopy, we monitor efficient intramolecular hole transfer in the solar cell dye E6 having two peripheral triarylamine acceptors. After photoexcitation, two hole transfer mechanisms are identified: a concerted mechanism for electron injection and hole transfer (2.4 ps) and a sequential mechanism with time constants of 3.9 ps and 30 ps. This way the dye retards unwanted recombination with a TiO2 conduction band electron by quickly moving the hole further away from the surface. Contact of the E6/TiO2 surface with the solvent acetonitrile has almost no influence on the electron injection and hole transfer kinetics. Fast hole transfer (2.8 ps) is also observed on a "non-injecting'' Al2O3 surface generating a radical cation-radical anion species with a lifetime of 530 ps. The findings confirm the good intramolecular hole transfer properties of this dye on both thin films. In contrast, intramolecular hole transfer does not occur in the mid-polar organic solvent methyl acetate. This is confirmed by TDDFT calculations suggesting a polarity-induced reduction of the driving force for hole transfer. In methyl acetate, only the relaxation of the initially photoexcited core chromophore is observed including solvent relaxation processes of the electronically excited state S-1/ICT.
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7. |
- Wernet, Philippe, 1971-, et al.
(författare)
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Orbital-specific mapping of the ligand exchange dynamics of Fe(CO)5 in solution
- 2015
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Ingår i: Nature. - : Springer Science and Business Media LLC. - 0028-0836 .- 1476-4687. ; 520:7545, s. 78-81
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Transition-metal complexes have long attracted interest for fundamental chemical reactivity studies and possible use in solar energy conversion. Electronic excitation, ligand loss from the metal centre, or a combination of both, creates changes in charge and spin density at the metal site that need to be controlled to optimize complexes for photocatalytic hydrogen production and selective carbon-hydrogen bond activation. An understanding at the molecular level of how transition-metal complexes catalyse reactions, and in particular of the role of the short-lived and reactive intermediate states involved, will be critical for such optimization. However, suitable methods for detailed characterization of electronic excited states have been lacking. Here we show, with the use of X-ray laser-based femtosecond resolution spectroscopy and advanced quantum chemical theory to probe the reaction dynamics of the benchmark transition-metal complex Fe(CO)5 insolution, that the photoinduced removal of CO generates the 16-electron Fe(CO)4 species, a homogeneous catalyst with an electron deficiency at the Fe centre, in a hitherto unreported excited singlet state that either converts to the triplet ground state or combines with a CO or solvent molecule to regenerate a penta-coordinated Fe species on a sub-picosecond timescale. This finding, which resolves the debate about the relative importance of different spin channels in the photochemistry of Fe(CO)5 (refs 4, 16,17,18,19 and 20), was made possible by the ability of femtosecond X-ray spectroscopy to probe frontier-orbital interactions with atom specificity. We expect the method to be broadly applicable in the chemical sciences, and to complement approaches that probe structural dynamics in ultrafast processes.
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