1
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Muniz-Miranda F, Pedone A, Menziani MC. Blueshift of the CN stretching vibration of acetonitrile in solution: computational and experimental study. J Comput Chem 2024; 45:2352-2359. [PMID: 39031704 DOI: 10.1002/jcc.27452] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/31/2024] [Revised: 04/30/2024] [Accepted: 06/07/2024] [Indexed: 07/22/2024]
Abstract
Acetonitrile, a polar molecule that cannot form hydrogen bonds on its own, interacts with solvent molecules mainly through the lone pair of its nitrogen atom and the π electrons of its CN triple bond [Correction added on 17 July 2024, after first online publication: Acetole has been changed to Acetonitrile in the preceeding sentence.]. Interestingly, acetonitrile exhibits an unexpected strengthening of the triple bond's force constant in an aqueous environment, leading to an upshift (blueshift) in the corresponding stretching vibration: this effect contrasts with the usual consequence of hydrogen bonding on the vibrational frequencies of the acceptor groups, that is, frequency redshift. This investigation elucidates this phenomenon using Raman spectroscopy to examine the behavior of acetonitrile in organic solvent, water, and silver ion aqueous solutions, where an even more pronounced upshift is observed. Raman spectroscopy is particularly well suited for analyzing aqueous solutions due to the minimal scattering effect of water molecules across most of the vibrational spectrum. Computational approaches, both static and dynamical, based on Density Functional Theory and hybrid functionals, are employed here to interpret these findings, and accurately reproduce the vibrational frequencies of acetonitrile in different environments. Our calculations also allow an explanation for this unique behavior in terms of electric charge displacements. On the other hand, the study of the interaction of acetonitrile with water molecules and metal ions is relevant for the use of this molecule as a solvent in both chemical and pharmaceutical applications.
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Affiliation(s)
- Francesco Muniz-Miranda
- Department of Chemical and Geological Sciences (DSCG), University of Modena and Reggio-Emilia (UNIMORE), Modena, Italy
| | - Alfonso Pedone
- Department of Chemical and Geological Sciences (DSCG), University of Modena and Reggio-Emilia (UNIMORE), Modena, Italy
| | - Maria Cristina Menziani
- Department of Chemical and Geological Sciences (DSCG), University of Modena and Reggio-Emilia (UNIMORE), Modena, Italy
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2
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Buttarazzi E, Inchingolo A, Pedron D, Alberto ME, Collini E, Petrone A. Conformational and environmental effects on the electronic and vibrational properties of dyes for solar cell devices. J Chem Phys 2024; 160:204301. [PMID: 38785282 DOI: 10.1063/5.0207770] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/11/2024] [Accepted: 05/07/2024] [Indexed: 05/25/2024] Open
Abstract
The main challenge for solar cell devices is harvesting photons beyond the visible by reaching the red-edge (650-780 nm). Dye-sensitized solar cell (DSSC) devices combine the optical absorption and the charge separation processes by the association of a sensitizer as a light-absorbing material (dye molecules, whose absorption can be tuned and designed) with a wide band gap nanostructured semiconductor. Conformational and environmental effects (i.e., solvent, pH) can drastically influence the photophysical properties of molecular dyes. This study proposes a combined experimental and computational approach for the comprehensive investigation of the electronic and vibrational properties of a unique class of organic dye compounds belonging to the family of red-absorbing dyes, known as squaraines. Our focus lies on elucidating the intricate interplay between the molecular structure, vibrational dynamics, and optical properties of squaraines using state-of-the-art density functional theory calculations and spectroscopic techniques. Through systematic vibrational and optical analyses, we show that (i) the main absorption peak in the visible range is influenced by the conformational and protonation equilibria, (ii) the solvent polarity tunes the position of the UV-vis absorption, and (iii) the vibrational spectroscopy techniques (infrared and Raman) can be used as informative tools to distinguish between different conformations and protonation states. This comprehensive understanding offers valuable insights into the design and optimization of squaraine-based DSSCs for enhanced solar energy conversion efficiency.
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Affiliation(s)
- Edoardo Buttarazzi
- Scuola Superiore Meridionale, Largo San Marcellino 10, I-80138 Napoli, Italy
- Department of Chemical Sciences, University of Napoli Federico II, Complesso Universitario di Monte S. Angelo, Via Cintia 21, I-80126 Napoli, Italy
| | - Antonio Inchingolo
- Department of Chemical Sciences, University of Padova, Via Marzolo 1, I-35131 Padova, Italy
| | - Danilo Pedron
- Department of Chemical Sciences, University of Padova, Via Marzolo 1, I-35131 Padova, Italy
| | - Marta Erminia Alberto
- Department of Chemical and Chemical Technologies, University of Calabria, Via Pietro Bucci ed. 12/C, I-87036 Arcavacata di Rende, Cosenza, Italy
| | - Elisabetta Collini
- Department of Chemical Sciences, University of Padova, Via Marzolo 1, I-35131 Padova, Italy
| | - Alessio Petrone
- Scuola Superiore Meridionale, Largo San Marcellino 10, I-80138 Napoli, Italy
- Department of Chemical Sciences, University of Napoli Federico II, Complesso Universitario di Monte S. Angelo, Via Cintia 21, I-80126 Napoli, Italy
- Istituto Nazionale Di Fisica Nucleare, Sezione di Napoli, Complesso Universitario di Monte S. Angelo ed. 6, Via Cintia, I-80126 Napoli, Italy
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3
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Coppola F, Cimino P, Petrone A, Rega N. Evidence of Excited-State Vibrational Mode Governing the Photorelaxation of a Charge-Transfer Complex. J Phys Chem A 2024; 128:1620-1633. [PMID: 38381887 DOI: 10.1021/acs.jpca.3c08366] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 02/23/2024]
Abstract
Modern, nonlinear, time-resolved spectroscopic techniques have opened new doors for investigating the intriguing but complex world of photoinduced ultrafast out-of-equilibrium phenomena and charge dynamics. The interaction between light and matter introduces an additional dimension, where the complex interplay between electronic and vibrational dynamics needs the most advanced theoretical-computational protocols to be fully understood on the molecular scale. In this study, we showcase the capabilities of ab initio molecular dynamics simulation integrated with a multiresolution wavelet protocol to carefully investigate the excited-state relaxation dynamics in a noncovalent complex involving tetramethylbenzene (TMB) and tetracyanoquinodimethane (TCNQ) undergoing charge transfer (CT) upon photoexcitation. Our protocol provides an accurate description that facilitates a direct comparison between transient vibrational analysis and time-resolved spectroscopic signals. This molecular level perspective enhances our understanding of photorelaxation processes confined in the adiabatic regime and offers an improved interpretation of vibrational spectra. Furthermore, it enables the quantification of anharmonic vibrational couplings between high- and low-frequency modes, specifically the TCNQ "rocking" and "bending" modes. Additionally, it identifies the primary vibrational mode that governs the adiabaticity between the ground state and the CT state. This comprehensive understanding of photorelaxation processes holds significant importance in the rational design and precise control of more efficient photovoltaic and sensor devices.
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Affiliation(s)
- Federico Coppola
- Scuola Superiore Meridionale, Largo San Marcellino 10, I-80138 Napoli, Italy
| | - Paola Cimino
- Department of Chemical Sciences, University of Napoli Federico II, Complesso Universitario di M.S. Angelo, 80126 Napoli, Italy
| | - Alessio Petrone
- Scuola Superiore Meridionale, Largo San Marcellino 10, I-80138 Napoli, Italy
- Department of Chemical Sciences, University of Napoli Federico II, Complesso Universitario di M.S. Angelo, 80126 Napoli, Italy
- Istituto Nazionale Di Fisica Nucleare, sezione di Napoli, Complesso Universitario di Monte S. Angelo ed. 6, 80126 Napoli, Italia
| | - Nadia Rega
- Scuola Superiore Meridionale, Largo San Marcellino 10, I-80138 Napoli, Italy
- Department of Chemical Sciences, University of Napoli Federico II, Complesso Universitario di M.S. Angelo, 80126 Napoli, Italy
- Istituto Nazionale Di Fisica Nucleare, sezione di Napoli, Complesso Universitario di Monte S. Angelo ed. 6, 80126 Napoli, Italia
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4
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Crisci L, Coppola F, Petrone A, Rega N. Tuning ultrafast time-evolution of photo-induced charge-transfer states: A real-time electronic dynamics study in substituted indenotetracene derivatives. J Comput Chem 2024; 45:210-221. [PMID: 37706600 DOI: 10.1002/jcc.27231] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/20/2023] [Revised: 08/31/2023] [Accepted: 09/05/2023] [Indexed: 09/15/2023]
Abstract
Photo-induced charge transfer (CT) states are pivotal in many technological and biological processes. A deeper knowledge of such states is mandatory for modeling the charge migration dynamics. Real-time time-dependent density functional theory (RT-TD-DFT) electronic dynamics simulations are employed to explicitly observe the electronic density time-evolution upon photo-excitation. Asymmetrically substituted indenotetracene molecules, given their potential application as n-type semiconductors in organic photovoltaic materials, are here investigated. Effects of substituents with different electron-donating characters are analyzed in terms of the overall electronic energy spacing and resulting ultrafast CT dynamics through linear response (LR-)TD-DFT and RT-TD-DFT based approaches. The combination of the computational techniques here employed provided direct access to the electronic density reorganization in time and to its spatial and rational representation in terms of molecular orbital occupation time evolution. Such results can be exploited to design peculiar directional charge dynamics, crucial when photoactive materials are used for light-harvesting applications.
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Affiliation(s)
- Luigi Crisci
- Department of Chemical Sciences, University of Napoli Federico II, Complesso Universitario di M.S. Angelo, Naples, Italy
- Scuola Normale Superiore di Pisa, Pisa, Italy
| | | | - Alessio Petrone
- Department of Chemical Sciences, University of Napoli Federico II, Complesso Universitario di M.S. Angelo, Naples, Italy
- Scuola Superiore Meridionale, Naples, Italy
- Istituto Nazionale Di Fisica Nucleare, Sezione di Napoli, Complesso Universitario di M.S. Angelo ed. 6, Naples, Italy
| | - Nadia Rega
- Department of Chemical Sciences, University of Napoli Federico II, Complesso Universitario di M.S. Angelo, Naples, Italy
- Scuola Superiore Meridionale, Naples, Italy
- Istituto Nazionale Di Fisica Nucleare, Sezione di Napoli, Complesso Universitario di M.S. Angelo ed. 6, Naples, Italy
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5
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Buttarazzi E, Perrella F, Rega N, Petrone A. Watching the Interplay between Photoinduced Ultrafast Charge Dynamics and Nuclear Vibrations. J Chem Theory Comput 2023; 19:8751-8766. [PMID: 37991892 PMCID: PMC10720350 DOI: 10.1021/acs.jctc.3c00855] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/04/2023] [Revised: 11/02/2023] [Accepted: 11/03/2023] [Indexed: 11/24/2023]
Abstract
Here is presented the ultrafast hole-electron dynamics of photoinduced metal to ligand charge-transfer (MLCT) states in a Ru(II) complex, [Ru(dcbpy)2(NCS)2]4- (dcbpy = 4,4'-dicarboxy-2,2'-bipyridine), a photoactive molecule employed in dye sensitized solar cells. Via cutting-edge computational techniques, a tailored computational protocol is here presented and developed to provide a detailed analysis of the electronic manifold coupled with nuclear vibrations to better understand the nonradiative pathways and the resulting overall dye performances in light-harvesting processes (electron injection). Thus, the effects of different vibrational modes were investigated on both the electronic levels and charge transfer dynamics through a theoretical-computational approach. First, the linear response time-dependent density functional (LR-TDDFT) formalism was employed to characterize excitation energies and spacing among electronic levels (the electronic layouts). Then, to understand the ultrafast (femtosecond) charge dynamics on the molecular scale, we relied on the nonperturbative mean-field quantum electronic dynamics via real-time (RT-) TDDFT. Three vibrational modes were selected, representative for collective nuclear movements that can have a significant influence on the electronic structure: two involving NCS- ligands and one involving dcbpy ligands. As main results, we observed that such MLCT states, under vibrational distortions, are strongly affected and a faster interligand electron transfer mechanism is observed along with an increasing MLCT character of the adiabatic electronic states approaching closer in energy due to the vibrations. Such findings can help both in providing a molecular picture of multidimensional vibro-electronic spectroscopic techniques, used to characterize ultrafast coherent and noncoherent dynamics of complex systems, and to improve dye performances with particular attention to the study of energy or charge transport processes and vibronic couplings.
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Affiliation(s)
- Edoardo Buttarazzi
- Scuola
Superiore Meridionale, Largo San Marcellino 10, I-80138 Napoli, Italy
- Department
of Chemical Sciences, University of Napoli
Federico II, Complesso Universitario di Monte S. Angelo, Via Cintia 21, I-80126 Napoli, Italy
| | - Fulvio Perrella
- Scuola
Superiore Meridionale, Largo San Marcellino 10, I-80138 Napoli, Italy
| | - Nadia Rega
- Scuola
Superiore Meridionale, Largo San Marcellino 10, I-80138 Napoli, Italy
- Department
of Chemical Sciences, University of Napoli
Federico II, Complesso Universitario di Monte S. Angelo, Via Cintia 21, I-80126 Napoli, Italy
- Istituto
Nazionale Di Fisica Nucleare, sezione di Napoli, Complesso Universitario
di Monte S. Angelo ed. 6, Via Cintia, I-80126 Napoli, Italy
| | - Alessio Petrone
- Scuola
Superiore Meridionale, Largo San Marcellino 10, I-80138 Napoli, Italy
- Department
of Chemical Sciences, University of Napoli
Federico II, Complesso Universitario di Monte S. Angelo, Via Cintia 21, I-80126 Napoli, Italy
- Istituto
Nazionale Di Fisica Nucleare, sezione di Napoli, Complesso Universitario
di Monte S. Angelo ed. 6, Via Cintia, I-80126 Napoli, Italy
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6
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Liu X, Hayes D, Chen LX, Li X. Bridge-Mediated Metal-to-Metal Electron and Hole Transfer in a Supermolecular Dinuclear Complex: A Computational Study Using Quantum Electron-Nuclear Dynamics. J Phys Chem A 2023; 127:1831-1838. [PMID: 36800527 DOI: 10.1021/acs.jpca.2c07870] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 02/19/2023]
Abstract
Bimetallic electron donor-acceptor complexes can facilitate electron and energy transfer with excellent structural control through synthetic design. In this work, we investigate the photochemical dynamics in a Ru-Cu bimetallic complex after photoexcitation of the Ru-centered charge transfer state. The physical underpinnings of the metal-to-metal directional charge transfer process are unraveled via analyses of the quantum electronic dynamics and electron-nuclear trajectories. The effects of molecular vibrations in the photoexcited state on the charge transfer processes are also analyzed.
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Affiliation(s)
- Xiaolin Liu
- Department of Chemistry, University of Washington, Seattle, Washington 98195, United States
| | - Dugan Hayes
- Department of Chemistry, University of Rhode Island, Kingston, Rhode Island 02881, United States
| | - Lin X Chen
- Chemical Sciences and Engineering Division, Argonne National Laboratory, Lemont, Illinois 60439, United States.,Department of Chemistry, Northwestern University, Evanston, Illinois 60208, United States
| | - Xiaosong Li
- Department of Chemistry, University of Washington, Seattle, Washington 98195, United States
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7
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Perrella F, Li X, Petrone A, Rega N. Nature of the Ultrafast Interligands Electron Transfers in Dye-Sensitized Solar Cells. JACS AU 2023; 3:70-79. [PMID: 36711100 PMCID: PMC9875239 DOI: 10.1021/jacsau.2c00556] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/08/2022] [Revised: 11/22/2022] [Accepted: 11/23/2022] [Indexed: 05/14/2023]
Abstract
Charge-transfer dynamics and interligand electron transfer (ILET) phenomena play a pivotal role in dye-sensitizers, mostly represented by the Ru-based polypyridyl complexes, for TiO2 and ZnO-based solar cells. Starting from metal-to-ligand charge-transfer (MLCT) excited states, charge dynamics and ILET can influence the overall device efficiency. In this letter, we focus on N34- dye ( [Ru(dcbpy)2(NCS)2]4-, dcbpy = 4,4'-dicarboxy-2,2'-bipyridine) to provide a first direct observation with high time resolution (<20 fs) of the ultrafast electron exchange between bpy-like ligands. ILET is observed in water solution after photoexcitation in the ∼400 nm MLCT band, and assessment of its ultrafast time-scale is here given through a real-time electronic dynamics simulation on the basis of state-of-the-art electronic structure methods. Indirect effects of water at finite temperature are also disentangled by investigating the system in a symmetric gas-phase structure. As main result, remarkably, the ILET mechanism appears to be based upon a purely electronic evolution among the dense, experimentally accessible, MLCT excited states manifold at ∼400 nm, which rules out nuclear-electronic couplings and proves further the importance of the dense electronic manifold in improving the efficiency of dye sensitizers in solar cell devices.
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Affiliation(s)
- Fulvio Perrella
- Department
of Chemical Sciences, University of Napoli
Federico II, Complesso Universitario di M.S. Angelo, via Cintia 21, I-80126 Napoli, Italy
| | - Xiaosong Li
- Department
of Chemistry, University of Washington, Seattle, Washington 98195, United States
| | - Alessio Petrone
- Department
of Chemical Sciences, University of Napoli
Federico II, Complesso Universitario di M.S. Angelo, via Cintia 21, I-80126 Napoli, Italy
- Scuola
Superiore Meridionale, Largo San Marcellino 10, I-80138 Napoli, Italy
- Istituto
Nazionale Di Fisica Nucleare, sezione di Napoli, Complesso Universitario di Monte S. Angelo ed.
6, via Cintia, 80126 Napoli, Italy
| | - Nadia Rega
- Department
of Chemical Sciences, University of Napoli
Federico II, Complesso Universitario di M.S. Angelo, via Cintia 21, I-80126 Napoli, Italy
- Scuola
Superiore Meridionale, Largo San Marcellino 10, I-80138 Napoli, Italy
- Istituto
Nazionale Di Fisica Nucleare, sezione di Napoli, Complesso Universitario di Monte S. Angelo ed.
6, via Cintia, 80126 Napoli, Italy
- CRIB,
Centro Interdipartimentale di Ricerca sui Biomateriali, Piazzale Tecchio 80, I-80125 Napoli, Italy
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8
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Perrella F, Petrone A, Rega N. Understanding Charge Dynamics in Dense Electronic Manifolds in Complex Environments. J Chem Theory Comput 2023; 19:626-639. [PMID: 36602443 PMCID: PMC9878732 DOI: 10.1021/acs.jctc.2c00794] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/01/2022] [Indexed: 01/06/2023]
Abstract
Photoinduced charge transfer (CT) excited states and their relaxation mechanisms can be highly interdependent on the environment effects and the consequent changes in the electronic density. Providing a molecular interpretation of the ultrafast (subpicosecond) interplay between initial photoexcited states in such dense electronic manifolds in condensed phase is crucial for improving and understanding such phenomena. Real-time time-dependent density functional theory is here the method of choice to observe the charge density, explicitly propagated in an ultrafast time domain, along with all time-dependent properties that can be easily extracted from it. A designed protocol of analysis for real-time electronic dynamics to be applied to time evolving electronic density related properties to characterize both in time and in space CT dynamics in complex systems is here introduced and validated, proposing easy to be read cross-correlation maps. As case studies to test such tools, we present the photoinduced charge-transfer electronic dynamics of 5-benzyluracil, a mimic of nucleic acid/protein interactions, and the metal-to-ligand charge-transfer electronic dynamics in water solution of [Ru(dcbpy)2(NCS)2]4-, dcbpy = (4,4'-dicarboxy-2,2'-bipyridine), or "N34-", a dye sensitizer for solar cells. Electrostatic and explicit ab initio treatment of solvent molecules have been compared in the latter case, revealing the importance of the accurate modeling of mutual solute-solvent polarization on CT kinetics. We observed that explicit quantum mechanical treatment of solvent slowed down the charge carriers mobilities with respect to the gas-phase. When all water molecules were modeled instead as simpler embedded point charges, the electronic dynamics appeared enhanced, with a reduced hole-electron distance and higher mean velocities due to the close fixed charges and an artificially increased polarization effect. Such analysis tools and the presented case studies can help to unveil the influence of the electronic manifold, as well as of the finite temperature-induced structural distortions and the environment on the ultrafast charge motions.
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Affiliation(s)
- Fulvio Perrella
- Department
of Chemical Sciences, University of Napoli
Federico II, Complesso Universitario di
M.S. Angelo, via Cintia 21, I-80126, Napoli, Italy
| | - Alessio Petrone
- Department
of Chemical Sciences, University of Napoli
Federico II, Complesso Universitario di
M.S. Angelo, via Cintia 21, I-80126, Napoli, Italy
- Scuola
Superiore Meridionale, Largo San Marcellino 10, I-80138, Napoli, Italy
- Istituto
Nazionale Di Fisica Nucleare, sezione di Napoli, Complesso Universitario di Monte S. Angelo ed. 6, via Cintia, 80126, Napoli, Italia
| | - Nadia Rega
- Department
of Chemical Sciences, University of Napoli
Federico II, Complesso Universitario di
M.S. Angelo, via Cintia 21, I-80126, Napoli, Italy
- Scuola
Superiore Meridionale, Largo San Marcellino 10, I-80138, Napoli, Italy
- Istituto
Nazionale Di Fisica Nucleare, sezione di Napoli, Complesso Universitario di Monte S. Angelo ed. 6, via Cintia, 80126, Napoli, Italia
- CRIB,
Centro Interdipartimentale di Ricerca sui Biomateriali, Piazzale Tecchio 80, I-80125, Napoli, Italy
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9
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Perrella F, Petrone A, Rega N. Direct observation of the solvent organization and nuclear vibrations of [Ru(dcbpy) 2(NCS) 2] 4-, [dcbpy = (4,4'-dicarboxy-2,2'-bipyridine)], via ab initio molecular dynamics. Phys Chem Chem Phys 2021; 23:22885-22896. [PMID: 34668499 DOI: 10.1039/d1cp03151a] [Citation(s) in RCA: 11] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/16/2022]
Abstract
Environmental effects can drastically influence the optical properties and photoreactivity of molecules, particularly in the presence of polar and/or protic solvents. In this work we investigate a negatively charged Ru(II) complex, [Ru(dcbpy)2(NCS)2]4- [dcbpy = (4,4'-dicarboxy-2,2'-bipyridine)], in water solution, since this system belongs to a broader class of transition-metal compounds undergoing upon photo-excitation rapid and complex charge transfer (CT) dynamics, which can be dictated by structural rearrangement and solvent environment. Ab initio molecular dynamics (AIMD) relying on a hybrid quantum/molecular mechanics scheme is used to probe the equilibrium microsolvation around the metal complex in terms of radial distribution functions of the main solvation sites and solvent effects on the overall equilibrium structure. Then, using our AIMD-based generalized normal mode approach, we investigate how the ligand vibrational spectroscopic features are affected by water solvation, also contributing to the interpretation of experimental Infra-Red spectra. Two solvation sites are found for the ligands: the sulfur and the oxygen sites can interact on average with ∼4 and ∼3 water molecules, respectively, where a stronger interaction of the oxygen sites is highlighted. On average an overall dynamic distortion of the C2 symmetric gas-phase structure was found to be induced by water solvation. Vibrational analysis reproduced experimental values for ligand symmetric and asymmetric stretchings, linking the observed shifts with respect to the gas-phase to a complex solvent distribution around the system. This is the groundwork for future excited-state nuclear and electronic dynamics to monitor non-equilibrium processes of CT excitation in complex environments, such as exciton migration in photovoltaic technologies.
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Affiliation(s)
- Fulvio Perrella
- Department of Chemical Sciences, University of Napoli Federico II, Complesso Universitario di M.S. Angelo, via Cintia 21, I-80126, Napoli, Italy.
| | - Alessio Petrone
- Department of Chemical Sciences, University of Napoli Federico II, Complesso Universitario di M.S. Angelo, via Cintia 21, I-80126, Napoli, Italy. .,Scuola Superiore Meridionale, Largo San Marcellino 10, I-80138, Napoli, Italy
| | - Nadia Rega
- Department of Chemical Sciences, University of Napoli Federico II, Complesso Universitario di M.S. Angelo, via Cintia 21, I-80126, Napoli, Italy. .,Scuola Superiore Meridionale, Largo San Marcellino 10, I-80138, Napoli, Italy.,CRIB, Centro Interdipartimentale di Ricerca sui Biomateriali, Piazzale Tecchio 80, I-80125, Napoli, Italy
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10
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Chiariello MG, Raucci U, Donati G, Rega N. Water-Mediated Excited State Proton Transfer of Pyranine-Acetate in Aqueous Solution: Vibrational Fingerprints from Ab Initio Molecular Dynamics. J Phys Chem A 2021; 125:3569-3578. [PMID: 33900071 PMCID: PMC8279639 DOI: 10.1021/acs.jpca.1c00692] [Citation(s) in RCA: 7] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/30/2022]
Abstract
![]()
In this work, we
simulate the excited state proton transfer (ESPT)
reaction involving the pyranine photoacid and an acetate molecule
as proton acceptor, connected by a bridge water molecule. We employ
ab initio molecular dynamics combined with an hybrid quantum/molecular
mechanics (QM/MM) framework. Furthermore, a time-resolved vibrational
analysis based on the wavelet-transform allows one to identify two
low frequency vibrational modes that are fingerprints of the ESPT
event: a ring wagging and ring breathing. Their composition suggests
their key role in optimizing the structure of the proton donor–acceptor
couple and promoting the ESPT event. We find that the choice of the
QM/MM partition dramatically affects the photoinduced reactivity of
the system. The QM subspace was gradually extended including the water
molecules directly interacting with the pyranine–water–acetate
system. Indeed, the ESPT reaction takes place when the hydrogen bond
network around the reactive system is taken into account at full QM
level.
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Affiliation(s)
- Maria Gabriella Chiariello
- Dipartimento di Scienze Chimiche, Università di Napoli Federico II, Complesso Universitario di M.S. Angelo, via Cintia, I-80126 Napoli, Italy
| | - Umberto Raucci
- Dipartimento di Scienze Chimiche, Università di Napoli Federico II, Complesso Universitario di M.S. Angelo, via Cintia, I-80126 Napoli, Italy
| | - Greta Donati
- Dipartimento di Scienze Chimiche, Università di Napoli Federico II, Complesso Universitario di M.S. Angelo, via Cintia, I-80126 Napoli, Italy
| | - Nadia Rega
- Dipartimento di Scienze Chimiche, Università di Napoli Federico II, Complesso Universitario di M.S. Angelo, via Cintia, I-80126 Napoli, Italy.,Centro Interdipartimentale di Ricerca sui Biomateriali (CRIB) Piazzale Tecchio, Largo Barsanti e Matteucci, I-80125 Napoli, Italy
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11
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Coppola F, Cimino P, Raucci U, Chiariello MG, Petrone A, Rega N. Exploring the Franck-Condon region of a photoexcited charge transfer complex in solution to interpret femtosecond stimulated Raman spectroscopy: excited state electronic structure methods to unveil non-radiative pathways. Chem Sci 2021; 12:8058-8072. [PMID: 34194695 PMCID: PMC8208128 DOI: 10.1039/d1sc01238j] [Citation(s) in RCA: 12] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/02/2021] [Accepted: 04/27/2021] [Indexed: 01/12/2023] Open
Abstract
We present electronic structure methods to unveil the non-radiative pathways of photoinduced charge transfer (CT) reactions that play a main role in photophysics and light harvesting technologies. A prototypical π-stacked molecular complex consisting of an electron donor (1-chloronaphthalene, 1ClN) and an electron acceptor (tetracyanoethylene, TCNE) was investigated in dichloromethane solution for this purpose. The characterization of TCNE:π:1ClN in both its equilibrium ground and photoinduced low-lying CT electronic states was performed by using a reliable and accurate theoretical-computational methodology exploiting ab initio molecular dynamics simulations. The structural and vibrational time evolution of key vibrational modes is found to be in excellent agreement with femtosecond stimulated Raman spectroscopy experiments [R. A. Mathies et al., J. Phys. Chem. A, 2018, 122, 14, 3594], unveiling a correlation between vibrational fingerprints and electronic properties. The evaluation of nonadiabatic coupling matrix elements along generalized normal modes has made possible the interpretation on the molecular scale of the activation of nonradiative relaxation pathways towards the ground electronic state. In particular, two low frequency vibrational modes such as the out of plane bending and dimer breathing and the TCNE central C[double bond, length as m-dash]C stretching play a prominent role in relaxation phenomena from the electronic CT state to the ground state one.
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Affiliation(s)
- Federico Coppola
- Department of Chemical Sciences, University of Napoli Federico II, Complesso Universitario di M.S. Angelo via Cintia Napoli 80126 Italy
| | - Paola Cimino
- Department of Pharmaceutical Sciences, University of Salerno Salerno 84084 Italy
| | - Umberto Raucci
- Department of Chemical Sciences, University of Napoli Federico II, Complesso Universitario di M.S. Angelo via Cintia Napoli 80126 Italy
| | - Maria Gabriella Chiariello
- Department of Chemical Sciences, University of Napoli Federico II, Complesso Universitario di M.S. Angelo via Cintia Napoli 80126 Italy
| | - Alessio Petrone
- Department of Chemical Sciences, University of Napoli Federico II, Complesso Universitario di M.S. Angelo via Cintia Napoli 80126 Italy
| | - Nadia Rega
- Department of Chemical Sciences, University of Napoli Federico II, Complesso Universitario di M.S. Angelo via Cintia Napoli 80126 Italy
- Centro Interdipartimentale di Ricerca sui Biomateriali (CRIB) Piazzale Tecchio Napoli I-80125 Italy
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12
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Kuda-Singappulige GU, Wildman A, Lingerfelt DB, Li X, Aikens CM. Ultrafast Nonradiative Decay of a Dipolar Plasmon-like State in Naphthalene. J Phys Chem A 2020; 124:9729-9737. [PMID: 33181013 DOI: 10.1021/acs.jpca.0c09564] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/29/2022]
Abstract
Motivated by the uncertainty in our understanding of ultrafast plasmon decay mechanisms, we examine the effect of nuclear vibrations on the dynamical behavior of the strong plasmon-like dipole response of naphthalene, known as the β peak. The real-time time-dependent density functional (RT-TDDFT) method coupled with Ehrenfest molecular dynamics is used to describe the interconnected nuclear and electronic motion. Several vibrational modes promote drastic plasmon decay in naphthalene. The most astonishing finding of this study is that activation of one particular vibrational mode (corresponding to the B1u representation in D2h point group symmetry) leads to a continuous drop of the dipole response corresponding to the β peak into a totally symmetric, dark, quadrupolar electronic state. A second B1u mode provokes the sharp plasmon-like peak to split due to the breaking of structural symmetry. Nonadiabatic coupling between a B2g vibrational mode and the β peak (a B1u electronic state) gives rise to a B3u vibronic state, which can be identified as one of the p-band peaks that reside close in energy to the β peak energy. Overall, strong nonadiabatic coupling initiates plasmon decay into nearby electronic states in acenes, most importantly into dark states. These findings expand our knowledge about possible plasmon decay processes and pave the way for achieving high optical performance in acene-based materials such as graphene.
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Affiliation(s)
| | - Andrew Wildman
- Department of Chemistry, University of Washington, Seattle, Washington 98195, United States
| | - David B Lingerfelt
- Department of Chemistry, University of Washington, Seattle, Washington 98195, United States.,Center for Nanophase Materials Sciences, Oak Ridge National Laboratory, Oak Ridge, Tennessee 37831, United States
| | - Xiaosong Li
- Department of Chemistry, University of Washington, Seattle, Washington 98195, United States
| | - Christine M Aikens
- Department of Chemistry, Kansas State University, Manhattan, Kansas 66506, United States
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13
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Donati G, Petrone A, Rega N. Multiresolution continuous wavelet transform for studying coupled solute-solvent vibrations via ab initio molecular dynamics. Phys Chem Chem Phys 2020; 22:22645-22661. [PMID: 33015693 DOI: 10.1039/d0cp02495c] [Citation(s) in RCA: 21] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/21/2022]
Abstract
Vibrational analysis in solution and the theoretical determination of infrared and Raman spectra are of key importance in many fields of chemical interest. Vibrational band dynamics of molecules and their sensitivity to the environment can also be captured by these spectroscopies in their time dependent version. However, it is often difficult to provide an interpretation of the experimental data at the molecular scale, such as molecular mechanisms or the processes hidden behind them. In this work, we present a theoretical-computational protocol based on ab initio molecular dynamics simulations and a combination of normal-like (generalized) mode analysis of solute-solvent clusters with a wavelet transform, for the first time. The case study is the vibrational dynamics of N-methyl-acetamide (NMA) in water solution, a well-known model of hydration of peptides and proteins. Amide modes are typical bands of peptide and protein backbone, and their couplings with the environment are very challenging in terms of the accurate prediction of solvent induced intensity and frequency shifts. The contribution of water molecules surrounding NMA to the composition of generalized and time resolved modes is introduced in our vibrational analysis, showing unequivocally its influence on the amide mode spectra. It is also shown that such mode compositions need the inclusion of the first shell solvent molecules to be accurately described. The wavelet analysis is proven to be strongly recommended to follow the time evolution of the spectra, and to capture vibrational band couplings and frequency shifts over time, preserving at the same time a well-balanced time-frequency resolution. This peculiar feature also allows one to perform a combined structural-vibrational analysis, where the different strengths of hydrogen bond interactions can quantitatively affect the amide bands over time at finite temperature. The proposed method allows for the direct connection between vibrational modes and local structural changes, providing a link from the spectroscopic observable to the structure, in this case the peptide backbone, and its hydration layouts.
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Affiliation(s)
- Greta Donati
- Department of Chemical Sciences, University of Napoli Federico II, Complesso Universitario di M. S. Angelo, Via Cintia, I-80126 Napoli, Italy.
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14
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Chiariello MG, Donati G, Rega N. Time-Resolved Vibrational Analysis of Excited State Ab Initio Molecular Dynamics to Understand Photorelaxation: The Case of the Pyranine Photoacid in Aqueous Solution. J Chem Theory Comput 2020; 16:6007-6013. [PMID: 32955870 PMCID: PMC8011922 DOI: 10.1021/acs.jctc.0c00810] [Citation(s) in RCA: 18] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/25/2023]
Abstract
![]()
We
present a novel time-resolved vibrational analysis for studying
photoinduced nuclear relaxation. Generalized modes velocities are
defined from ab initio molecular dynamics and wavelet transformed,
providing the time localization of vibrational signals in the electronic
excited state. The photoexcited pyranine in aqueous solution is presented
as a case study. The transient and sequential activation of the simulated
vibrational signals is in good agreement with vibrational dynamics
obtained from femtosecond stimulated Raman spectroscopy data.
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Affiliation(s)
- Maria Gabriella Chiariello
- Dipartimento di Scienze Chimiche, Università di Napoli Federico II, Complesso Universitario di M. S. Angelo, via Cintia, I-80126 Napoli, Italy
| | - Greta Donati
- Dipartimento di Scienze Chimiche, Università di Napoli Federico II, Complesso Universitario di M. S. Angelo, via Cintia, I-80126 Napoli, Italy
| | - Nadia Rega
- Dipartimento di Scienze Chimiche, Università di Napoli Federico II, Complesso Universitario di M. S. Angelo, via Cintia, I-80126 Napoli, Italy.,CRIB Center for Advanced Biomaterials for Healthcare, Largo Barsanti e Matteucci, I-80125 Napoli, Italy
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15
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Li X, Govind N, Isborn C, DePrince AE, Lopata K. Real-Time Time-Dependent Electronic Structure Theory. Chem Rev 2020; 120:9951-9993. [DOI: 10.1021/acs.chemrev.0c00223] [Citation(s) in RCA: 64] [Impact Index Per Article: 16.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/28/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- Xiaosong Li
- Department of Chemistry, University of Washington, Seattle, Washington 98195-1700, United States
| | - Niranjan Govind
- Physical and Computational Sciences Directorate, Pacific Northwest National Laboratory, Richland, Washington 99354, United States
| | - Christine Isborn
- Department of Chemistry and Chemical Biology, University of California, Merced, California 95343, United States
| | - A. Eugene DePrince
- Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, Florida State University, Tallahassee, Florida 32306-4390, United States
| | - Kenneth Lopata
- Department of Chemistry, Louisiana State University, Baton Rouge, Louisiana 70803, United States
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16
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Donati G, De Nicola A, Munaò G, Byshkin M, Vertuccio L, Guadagno L, Le Goff R, Milano G. Simulation of self-heating process on the nanoscale: a multiscale approach for molecular models of nanocomposite materials. NANOSCALE ADVANCES 2020; 2:3164-3180. [PMID: 36134283 PMCID: PMC9418708 DOI: 10.1039/d0na00238k] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/27/2020] [Accepted: 05/17/2020] [Indexed: 06/15/2023]
Abstract
A theoretical-computational protocol to model the Joule heating process in nanocomposite materials is presented. The proposed modeling strategy is based on post processing of trajectories obtained from large scale molecular simulations. This protocol, based on molecular models, is the first one to be applied to organic nanocomposites based on carbon nanotubes (CNT). This strategy allows to keep a microscopic explicit picture of the systems, to directly catch the molecular structure underlying the process under study and, at the same time, to include macroscopic boundary conditions fixed in the experiments. As validation and first application of the proposed strategy, a detailed investigation on CNT based organic composites is reported. The effect of CNT morphologies, concentration and working conditions on Joule heating has been modelled and compared with available experiments. Further experiments are performed also in this work to increase the number of comparisons especially in specific voltage ranges where available references from literature were missing. Simulations are in both qualitative and quantitative agreement with several experiments and trends reported in the recent literature, as well as with experiments performed in this work. The proposed approach combined with large scale hybrid particle-field molecular simulations can give insights and opens to way to a rational design of self-heating nanocomposites.
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Affiliation(s)
- Greta Donati
- Department of Chemistry and Biology, University of Salerno Via Giovanni Paolo II 132 84084 Fisciano SA Italy
| | - Antonio De Nicola
- Department of Organic Materials Science, Yamagata University 4-3-16 Jonan Yonezawa Yamagata-ken 992-8510 Japan
| | - Gianmarco Munaò
- Department of Mathematical and Computer Sciences, Physical Sciences and Earth Sciences, University of Messina Viale F. Stagno d'Alcontres 31 98166 Messina Italy
| | - Maksym Byshkin
- Institute of Computational Science Unversità della Svizzera Italiana 6900 Lugano Swizerland
| | - Luigi Vertuccio
- Department of Industrial Engineering, University of Salerno Via Giovanni Paolo II 132 84084 Fisciano SA Italy
| | - Liberata Guadagno
- Department of Industrial Engineering, University of Salerno Via Giovanni Paolo II 132 84084 Fisciano SA Italy
| | - Ronan Le Goff
- IPC Technical Center - Centre Technique Industriel de la Plasturgie et des Composites Bellignat France
| | - Giuseppe Milano
- Department of Chemistry and Biology, University of Salerno Via Giovanni Paolo II 132 84084 Fisciano SA Italy
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17
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Raucci U, Perrella F, Donati G, Zoppi M, Petrone A, Rega N. Ab-initio molecular dynamics and hybrid explicit-implicit solvation model for aqueous and nonaqueous solvents: GFP chromophore in water and methanol solution as case study. J Comput Chem 2020; 41:2228-2239. [PMID: 32770577 DOI: 10.1002/jcc.26384] [Citation(s) in RCA: 16] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/16/2020] [Revised: 06/21/2020] [Accepted: 06/27/2020] [Indexed: 12/15/2022]
Abstract
Solute-solvent interactions are proxies for understanding how the electronic density of a chromophore interacts with the environment in a more exhaustive way. The subtle balance between polarization, electrostatic, and non-bonded interactions need to be accurately described to obtain good agreement between simulations and experiments. First principles approaches providing accurate configurational sampling through molecular dynamics may be a suitable choice to describe solvent effects on solute chemical-physical properties and spectroscopic features, such as optical absorption of dyes. In this context, accurate energy potentials, obtained by hybrid implicit/explicit solvation methods along with employing nonperiodic boundary conditions, are required to represent bulk solvent around a large solute-solvent cluster. In this work, a novel strategy to simulate methanol solutions is proposed combining ab initio molecular dynamics, a hybrid implicit/explicit flexible solvent model, nonperiodic boundary conditions, and time dependent density functional theory. As case study, the robustness of the proposed protocol has been gauged by investigating the microsolvation and electronic absorption of the anionic green fluorescent protein chromophore in methanol and aqueous solution. Satisfactory results are obtained, reproducing the microsolvation layout of the chromophore and, as a consequence, the experimental trends shown by the optical absorption in different solvents.
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Affiliation(s)
- Umberto Raucci
- Dipartimento di Scienze Chimiche, Università di Napoli Federico II, Complesso Universitario di M.S. Angelo, Naples, Italy
| | - Fulvio Perrella
- Dipartimento di Scienze Chimiche, Università di Napoli Federico II, Complesso Universitario di M.S. Angelo, Naples, Italy
| | - Greta Donati
- Dipartimento di Scienze Chimiche, Università di Napoli Federico II, Complesso Universitario di M.S. Angelo, Naples, Italy.,Dipartimento di Chimica e Biologia "Adolfo Zambelli", Università di Salerno, Fisciano, Italy
| | - Maria Zoppi
- Dipartimento di Scienze Chimiche, Università di Napoli Federico II, Complesso Universitario di M.S. Angelo, Naples, Italy
| | - Alessio Petrone
- Dipartimento di Scienze Chimiche, Università di Napoli Federico II, Complesso Universitario di M.S. Angelo, Naples, Italy
| | - Nadia Rega
- Dipartimento di Scienze Chimiche, Università di Napoli Federico II, Complesso Universitario di M.S. Angelo, Naples, Italy.,Center for Advanced Biomaterials for Healthcare@CRIB, Naples, Italy
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18
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Raucci U, Chiariello MG, Coppola F, Perrella F, Savarese M, Ciofini I, Rega N. An electron density based analysis to establish the electronic adiabaticity of proton coupled electron transfer reactions. J Comput Chem 2020; 41:1835-1841. [PMID: 32500950 DOI: 10.1002/jcc.26224] [Citation(s) in RCA: 8] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/04/2020] [Revised: 04/22/2020] [Accepted: 04/24/2020] [Indexed: 11/10/2022]
Abstract
Electrons and protons are the main actors in play in proton coupled electron transfer (PCET) reactions, which are fundamental in many biological (i.e., photosynthesis and enzymatic reactions) and electrochemical processes. The mechanism, energetics and kinetics of PCET reactions are strongly controlled by the coupling between the transferred electrons and protons. Concerted PCET reactions are classified according to the electronical adiabaticity degree of the process. To discriminate among different mechanisms, we propose a new analysis based on the use of electron density based indexes. We choose, as test case, the 3-Methylphenoxyl/phenol system in two different conformations to show how the proposed analysis is a suitable tool to discriminate between the different degree of adiabaticity of PCET processes. The very low computational cost of this procedure is extremely promising to analyze and provide evidences of PCET mechanisms ruling the reactivity of many biological and catalytic systems.
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Affiliation(s)
- Umberto Raucci
- Dipartimento di Scienze Chimiche, Università di Napoli Federico II, Complesso Universitario di M.S.Angelo, Napoli, Italy
| | - Maria Gabriella Chiariello
- Dipartimento di Scienze Chimiche, Università di Napoli Federico II, Complesso Universitario di M.S.Angelo, Napoli, Italy
| | - Federico Coppola
- Dipartimento di Scienze Chimiche, Università di Napoli Federico II, Complesso Universitario di M.S.Angelo, Napoli, Italy
| | - Fulvio Perrella
- Dipartimento di Scienze Chimiche, Università di Napoli Federico II, Complesso Universitario di M.S.Angelo, Napoli, Italy
| | | | - Ilaria Ciofini
- Chimie ParisTech, PSL Research University, CNRS, Institute of Chemistry for Life and Health Sciences, Paris, France
| | - Nadia Rega
- Dipartimento di Scienze Chimiche, Università di Napoli Federico II, Complesso Universitario di M.S.Angelo, Napoli, Italy.,CRIB Center for Advanced Biomaterials for Healthcare, Napoli, Italy
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19
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Nelson TR, White AJ, Bjorgaard JA, Sifain AE, Zhang Y, Nebgen B, Fernandez-Alberti S, Mozyrsky D, Roitberg AE, Tretiak S. Non-adiabatic Excited-State Molecular Dynamics: Theory and Applications for Modeling Photophysics in Extended Molecular Materials. Chem Rev 2020; 120:2215-2287. [PMID: 32040312 DOI: 10.1021/acs.chemrev.9b00447] [Citation(s) in RCA: 213] [Impact Index Per Article: 53.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/22/2022]
Abstract
Optically active molecular materials, such as organic conjugated polymers and biological systems, are characterized by strong coupling between electronic and vibrational degrees of freedom. Typically, simulations must go beyond the Born-Oppenheimer approximation to account for non-adiabatic coupling between excited states. Indeed, non-adiabatic dynamics is commonly associated with exciton dynamics and photophysics involving charge and energy transfer, as well as exciton dissociation and charge recombination. Understanding the photoinduced dynamics in such materials is vital to providing an accurate description of exciton formation, evolution, and decay. This interdisciplinary field has matured significantly over the past decades. Formulation of new theoretical frameworks, development of more efficient and accurate computational algorithms, and evolution of high-performance computer hardware has extended these simulations to very large molecular systems with hundreds of atoms, including numerous studies of organic semiconductors and biomolecules. In this Review, we will describe recent theoretical advances including treatment of electronic decoherence in surface-hopping methods, the role of solvent effects, trivial unavoided crossings, analysis of data based on transition densities, and efficient computational implementations of these numerical methods. We also emphasize newly developed semiclassical approaches, based on the Gaussian approximation, which retain phase and width information to account for significant decoherence and interference effects while maintaining the high efficiency of surface-hopping approaches. The above developments have been employed to successfully describe photophysics in a variety of molecular materials.
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Affiliation(s)
- Tammie R Nelson
- Theoretical Division , Los Alamos National Laboratory , Los Alamos , New Mexico 87545 , United States
| | - Alexander J White
- Theoretical Division , Los Alamos National Laboratory , Los Alamos , New Mexico 87545 , United States
| | - Josiah A Bjorgaard
- Theoretical Division , Los Alamos National Laboratory , Los Alamos , New Mexico 87545 , United States
| | - Andrew E Sifain
- Theoretical Division , Los Alamos National Laboratory , Los Alamos , New Mexico 87545 , United States.,U.S. Army Research Laboratory , Aberdeen Proving Ground , Maryland 21005 , United States
| | - Yu Zhang
- Theoretical Division , Los Alamos National Laboratory , Los Alamos , New Mexico 87545 , United States
| | - Benjamin Nebgen
- Theoretical Division , Los Alamos National Laboratory , Los Alamos , New Mexico 87545 , United States
| | | | - Dmitry Mozyrsky
- Theoretical Division , Los Alamos National Laboratory , Los Alamos , New Mexico 87545 , United States
| | - Adrian E Roitberg
- Department of Chemistry , University of Florida , Gainesville , Florida 32611 , United States
| | - Sergei Tretiak
- Theoretical Division , Los Alamos National Laboratory , Los Alamos , New Mexico 87545 , United States
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20
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Valero R, Morales-García Á, Illas F. Investigating the character of excited states in TiO2 nanoparticles from topological descriptors: implications for photocatalysis. Phys Chem Chem Phys 2020; 22:3017-3029. [DOI: 10.1039/c9cp05526f] [Citation(s) in RCA: 12] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/05/2023]
Abstract
Excited state topological descriptors based on the attachment/detachment one-electron charge density are used to investigate the centroids of photoactive TiO2 nanoclusters and nanoparticles.
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Affiliation(s)
- Rosendo Valero
- Departament de Ciència de Materials i Química Física & Institut de Química Teòrica i Computacional (IQTCUB)
- Universitat de Barcelona
- 08028 Barcelona
- Spain
| | - Ángel Morales-García
- Departament de Ciència de Materials i Química Física & Institut de Química Teòrica i Computacional (IQTCUB)
- Universitat de Barcelona
- 08028 Barcelona
- Spain
| | - Francesc Illas
- Departament de Ciència de Materials i Química Física & Institut de Química Teòrica i Computacional (IQTCUB)
- Universitat de Barcelona
- 08028 Barcelona
- Spain
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21
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Williams‐Young DB, Petrone A, Sun S, Stetina TF, Lestrange P, Hoyer CE, Nascimento DR, Koulias L, Wildman A, Kasper J, Goings JJ, Ding F, DePrince AE, Valeev EF, Li X. The Chronus Quantum software package. WILEY INTERDISCIPLINARY REVIEWS-COMPUTATIONAL MOLECULAR SCIENCE 2019. [DOI: 10.1002/wcms.1436] [Citation(s) in RCA: 34] [Impact Index Per Article: 6.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/10/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- David B. Williams‐Young
- Computational Research Division Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory Berkeley California
- Department of Chemistry University of Washington Seattle Washington
| | - Alessio Petrone
- Dipartimento di Scienze Chimiche Università di Napoli “Federico II”, Complesso Universitario di M.S. Angelo Naples Italy
| | - Shichao Sun
- Department of Chemistry University of Washington Seattle Washington
| | - Torin F. Stetina
- Department of Chemistry University of Washington Seattle Washington
| | | | - Chad E. Hoyer
- Department of Chemistry University of Washington Seattle Washington
| | - Daniel R. Nascimento
- Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry Florida State University Tallahassee Florida
| | - Lauren Koulias
- Department of Chemistry University of Washington Seattle Washington
| | - Andrew Wildman
- Department of Chemistry University of Washington Seattle Washington
| | - Joseph Kasper
- Department of Chemistry University of Washington Seattle Washington
| | | | - Feizhi Ding
- Division of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering California Institute of Technology Pasadena California
| | - A. Eugene DePrince
- Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry Florida State University Tallahassee Florida
| | | | - Xiaosong Li
- Department of Chemistry University of Washington Seattle Washington
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22
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Chiariello MG, Raucci U, Coppola F, Rega N. Unveiling anharmonic coupling by means of excited state ab initio dynamics: application to diarylethene photoreactivity. Phys Chem Chem Phys 2019; 21:3606-3614. [PMID: 30306981 DOI: 10.1039/c8cp04707c] [Citation(s) in RCA: 25] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/13/2022]
Abstract
In this work, excited state ab initio molecular dynamics together with a time resolved vibrational analysis is employed to shed light on the vibrational photoinduced dynamics of a well-known diarylethene molecule experiencing a ring opening reaction upon electronic excitation. The photoreactivity of diarylethenes is recognized to be controlled by a non-adiabatic intersection point between the ground and the first excited state surfaces. The computation of an energy scan, along a suitable reaction coordinate, allows us to identify the region of potential energy surfaces in which the ground (S0) and the first excited (S1) state are well separated. The adiabatic sampling of that region in S1 shows that in the first 3 picoseconds, the central CC bond, which is subject to break, oscillates in an antiphase with respect to the energy gap ΔE(S1 - S0). A multiresolution analysis based on the wavelet transform was then applied to the structural parameters extracted from the excited state dynamics. The wavelet maps show characteristic oscillations of the frequencies, mainly CC stretching and CCC bending localized on the central 4-ring moiety. Moreover, we have identified the main frequency (methyl wagging motion) involved in the modulation of these oscillations. The anharmonic coupling within a group of vibrational modes was therefore highlighted, in good agreement with experimental evidence. For the first time, a quantitative analysis of time resolved signals from a wavelet transform/ab initio molecular dynamics approach was performed.
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23
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King SB, Broch K, Demling A, Stähler J. Multistep and multiscale electron transfer and localization dynamics at a model electrolyte/metal interface. J Chem Phys 2019; 150:041702. [PMID: 30709309 DOI: 10.1063/1.5047033] [Citation(s) in RCA: 7] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/14/2022] Open
Abstract
The lifetime, coupling, and localization dynamics of electronic states in molecular films near metal electrodes fundamentally determine their propensity to act as precursors or reactants in chemical reactions, crucial for a detailed understanding of charge transport and degradation mechanisms in batteries. In the current study, we investigate the formation dynamics of small polarons and their role as intermediate electronic states in thin films of dimethyl sulfoxide (DMSO) on Cu(111) using time- and angle-resolved two-photon photoemission spectroscopy. Upon photoexcitation, a delocalized DMSO electronic state is initially populated two monolayers from the Cu surface, becoming a small polaron on a 200 fs time scale, consistent with localization due to vibrational dynamics of the DMSO film. The small polaron is a precursor state for an extremely long-lived and weakly coupled multilayer electronic state, with a lifetime of several seconds, thirteen orders of magnitude longer than the small polaron. Although the small polaron in DMSO has a lifetime of 140 fs, its role as a precursor state for long-lived electronic states could make it an important intermediate in multistep battery reactivity.
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Affiliation(s)
- Sarah B King
- Department of Physical Chemistry, Fritz Haber Institute of the Max Planck Society, Faradayweg 4-6, 14195 Berlin, Germany
| | - Katharina Broch
- Department of Physical Chemistry, Fritz Haber Institute of the Max Planck Society, Faradayweg 4-6, 14195 Berlin, Germany
| | - Angelika Demling
- Department of Physical Chemistry, Fritz Haber Institute of the Max Planck Society, Faradayweg 4-6, 14195 Berlin, Germany
| | - Julia Stähler
- Department of Physical Chemistry, Fritz Haber Institute of the Max Planck Society, Faradayweg 4-6, 14195 Berlin, Germany
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24
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Rana D, Donfack P, Jovanov V, Wagner V, Materny A. Ultrafast polaron-pair dynamics in a poly(3-hexylthiophene-2,5-diyl) device influenced by a static electric field: insights into electric-field-related charge loss. Phys Chem Chem Phys 2019; 21:21236-21248. [DOI: 10.1039/c9cp03736e] [Citation(s) in RCA: 10] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/19/2022]
Abstract
Photogenerated polaron-pair ultrafast dynamics in poly(3-hexylthiophene)-based devices are found to be influenced by external electric fields via delayed field-induced singlet exciton dissociation, yielding a bimolecular decay contribution.
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Affiliation(s)
- Debkumar Rana
- Physics and Earth Sciences, Jacobs University Bremen
- 28759 Bremen
- Germany
| | - Patrice Donfack
- Physics and Earth Sciences, Jacobs University Bremen
- 28759 Bremen
- Germany
| | - Vladislav Jovanov
- Physics and Earth Sciences, Jacobs University Bremen
- 28759 Bremen
- Germany
| | - Veit Wagner
- Physics and Earth Sciences, Jacobs University Bremen
- 28759 Bremen
- Germany
| | - Arnulf Materny
- Physics and Earth Sciences, Jacobs University Bremen
- 28759 Bremen
- Germany
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25
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Lian C, Hu SQ, Guan MX, Meng S. Momentum-resolved TDDFT algorithm in atomic basis for real time tracking of electronic excitation. J Chem Phys 2018; 149:154104. [PMID: 30342439 DOI: 10.1063/1.5036543] [Citation(s) in RCA: 13] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/14/2022] Open
Abstract
Ultrafast electronic dynamics in solids lies at the core of modern condensed matter and materials physics. To build up a practical ab initio method for studying solids under photoexcitation, we develop a momentum-resolved real-time time dependent density functional theory (rt-TDDFT) algorithm using numerical atomic basis, together with the implementation of both the length and vector gauge of the electromagnetic field. When applied to simulate elementary excitations in two-dimensional materials such as graphene, different excitation modes, only distinguishable in momentum space, are observed. The momentum-resolved rt-TDDFT is important and computationally efficient for the study of ultrafast dynamics in extended systems.
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Affiliation(s)
- Chao Lian
- Beijing National Laboratory for Condensed Matter Physics and Institute of Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100190, People's Republic of China
| | - Shi-Qi Hu
- Beijing National Laboratory for Condensed Matter Physics and Institute of Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100190, People's Republic of China
| | - Meng-Xue Guan
- Beijing National Laboratory for Condensed Matter Physics and Institute of Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100190, People's Republic of China
| | - Sheng Meng
- Beijing National Laboratory for Condensed Matter Physics and Institute of Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100190, People's Republic of China
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26
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Ivanov MV, Reid SA, Rathore R. Game of Frontier Orbitals: A View on the Rational Design of Novel Charge-Transfer Materials. J Phys Chem Lett 2018; 9:3978-3986. [PMID: 29952570 DOI: 10.1021/acs.jpclett.8b01093] [Citation(s) in RCA: 16] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 06/08/2023]
Abstract
Since the first application of frontier molecular orbitals (FMOs) to rationalize stereospecificity of pericyclic reactions, FMOs have remained at the forefront of chemical theory. Yet, the practical application of FMOs in the rational design and synthesis of novel charge transfer materials remains under-appreciated. In this Perspective, we demonstrate that molecular orbital theory is a powerful and universal tool capable of rationalizing the observed redox/optoelectronic properties of various aromatic hydrocarbons in the context of their application as charge-transfer materials. Importantly, the inspection of FMOs can provide instantaneous insight into the interchromophoric electronic coupling and polaron delocalization in polychromophoric assemblies, and therefore is invaluable for the rational design and synthesis of novel materials with tailored properties.
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Affiliation(s)
- Maxim V Ivanov
- Department of Chemistry , Marquette University , P.O. Box 1881, Milwaukee , Wisconsin 53201-1881 , United States
| | - Scott A Reid
- Department of Chemistry , Marquette University , P.O. Box 1881, Milwaukee , Wisconsin 53201-1881 , United States
| | - Rajendra Rathore
- Department of Chemistry , Marquette University , P.O. Box 1881, Milwaukee , Wisconsin 53201-1881 , United States
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27
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Comparison of the results of a mean-field mixed quantum/classical method with full quantum predictions for nonadiabatic dynamics: application to the $$\pi \pi ^*/n\pi ^*$$ π π ∗ / n π ∗ decay of thymine. Theor Chem Acc 2018. [DOI: 10.1007/s00214-018-2218-z] [Citation(s) in RCA: 7] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/02/2023]
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28
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The optical properties of adenine cation in different oligonucleotides: a PCM/TD-DFT study. Theor Chem Acc 2018. [DOI: 10.1007/s00214-018-2223-2] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 10/17/2022]
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29
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Chiariello MG, Rega N. Exploring Nuclear Photorelaxation of Pyranine in Aqueous Solution: an Integrated Ab-Initio Molecular Dynamics and Time Resolved Vibrational Analysis Approach. J Phys Chem A 2018; 122:2884-2893. [DOI: 10.1021/acs.jpca.7b12371] [Citation(s) in RCA: 25] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/29/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- Maria Gabriella Chiariello
- Dipartimento di Scienze Chimiche, Università di Napoli Federico II, Complesso Universitario di M.S.Angelo, via Cintia, I-80126 Napoli, Italy
| | - Nadia Rega
- Dipartimento di Scienze Chimiche, Università di Napoli Federico II, Complesso Universitario di M.S.Angelo, via Cintia, I-80126 Napoli, Italy
- Interdisciplinary Research Centre on Biomaterials (CRIB) Università di Napoli Federico II, Piazzale Tecchio 80, I-80125, Napoli, Italy
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30
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Cho D, Rouxel JR, Kowalewski M, Lee JY, Mukamel S. Attosecond X-ray Diffraction Triggered by Core or Valence Ionization of a Dipeptide. J Chem Theory Comput 2017; 14:329-338. [DOI: 10.1021/acs.jctc.7b00920] [Citation(s) in RCA: 15] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 02/02/2023]
Affiliation(s)
- Daeheum Cho
- Department
of Chemistry, University of California, Irvine, California 92697-2025, United States
- School
of Advanced Materials Science and Engineering, SKKU Advanced Institute
of Nanotechnology (SAINT), Sungkyunkwan University, Suwon 16419, Republic of Korea
| | - Jérémy R. Rouxel
- Department
of Chemistry, University of California, Irvine, California 92697-2025, United States
| | - Markus Kowalewski
- Department
of Chemistry, University of California, Irvine, California 92697-2025, United States
| | - Jin Yong Lee
- Department
of Chemistry, Sungkyunkwan University, Suwon 16419, Republic of Korea
| | - Shaul Mukamel
- Department
of Chemistry, University of California, Irvine, California 92697-2025, United States
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31
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Datko BD, Thomas AK, Fei Z, Heeney M, Grey JK. Effect of a heavy heteroatom on triplet formation and interactions in single conjugated polymer molecules and aggregates. Phys Chem Chem Phys 2017; 19:28239-28248. [PMID: 29027556 DOI: 10.1039/c7cp05476a] [Citation(s) in RCA: 12] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/21/2022]
Abstract
Triplet formation and interactions with emissive singlet excitons are investigated in poly(3-hexylselenophene) (P3HS) using single molecule spectroscopy. P3HS is a heavy atom analog of the more commonly studied poly(3-hexylthiophene) (P3HT), a benchmark polymer for solar cells. P3HS tends to aggregate strongly which necessitates dilution to ultra-low levels within a solid inert host in order to resolve photophysical responses of single chains. Fluorescence excitation intensity modulation is performed on isolated P3HS chains using a sequence of rectangular pulses of varying intensities to probe the presence of spin-forbidden triplet excitons. Triplet population dynamics originating from singlet-triplet and triplet-triplet interactions appear as quenching of the initial fluorescence intensity to steady-state levels on characteristic time scales of ∼1-10 μs. Over 80% of all molecules studied display significant fluorescence intensity modulation (quenching depths >50%) indicative of efficient intersystem crossing and large triplet occupancies. Because triplets are highly localized and singlet-triplet and triplet-triplet annihilation rate constants are comparable to those of intersystem crossing, multiple triplets are present at any given time on single P3HS chains. Triplet lifetimes were estimated to be ∼4 μs (upper limit) determined from recovery to the ground electronic singlet state in the absence of light and, surprisingly, triplets vanish at the onset of P3HS aggregation. This result was unexpected since P3HS triplet formation takes place on time scales <30 ps making this process competitive with most accessible non-radiative deactivation pathways.
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Affiliation(s)
- Benjamin D Datko
- Department of Chemistry, University of New Mexico, MSC03 2060, Albuquerque, NM 87131, USA.
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32
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Menšík M, Pfleger J, Toman P. Dynamics of photogenerated polarons and polaron pairs in P3HT thin films. Chem Phys Lett 2017. [DOI: 10.1016/j.cplett.2017.03.082] [Citation(s) in RCA: 12] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/28/2022]
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33
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Petrone A, Williams-Young DB, Lingerfelt DB, Li X. Ab Initio Excited-State Transient Raman Analysis. J Phys Chem A 2017; 121:3958-3965. [DOI: 10.1021/acs.jpca.7b02905] [Citation(s) in RCA: 13] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.9] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/30/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- Alessio Petrone
- Department of Chemistry, University of Washington, Seattle, Washington 98195, United States
| | | | - David B. Lingerfelt
- Department of Chemistry, University of Washington, Seattle, Washington 98195, United States
| | - Xiaosong Li
- Department of Chemistry, University of Washington, Seattle, Washington 98195, United States
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34
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Petrone A, Lingerfelt DB, Williams-Young DB, Li X. Ab Initio Transient Vibrational Spectral Analysis. J Phys Chem Lett 2016; 7:4501-4508. [PMID: 27788583 DOI: 10.1021/acs.jpclett.6b02292] [Citation(s) in RCA: 24] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 05/27/2023]
Abstract
Pump probe spectroscopy techniques have enabled the direct observation of a variety of transient molecular species in both ground and excited electronic states. Time-resolved vibrational spectroscopy is becoming an indispensable tool for investigating photoinduced nuclear dynamics of chemical systems of all kinds. On the other hand, a complete picture of the chemical dynamics encoded in these spectra cannot be achieved without a full temporal description of the structural relaxation, including the explicit time-dependence of vibrational coordinates that are substantially displaced from equilibrium by electronic excitation. Here we present a transient vibrational analysis protocol combining ab initio direct molecular dynamics and time-integrated normal modes introduced in this work, relying on the recent development of analytic time-dependent density functional theory (TDDFT) second derivatives for excited states. Prototypical molecules will be used as test cases, showing the evolution of the vibrational signatures that follow electronic excitation. This protocol provides a direct route to assigning the vibrations implicated in the (photo)dynamics of several (photoactive) systems.
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Affiliation(s)
- Alessio Petrone
- Department of Chemistry, University of Washington , Seattle, Washington 98195, United States
| | - David B Lingerfelt
- Department of Chemistry, University of Washington , Seattle, Washington 98195, United States
| | - David B Williams-Young
- Department of Chemistry, University of Washington , Seattle, Washington 98195, United States
| | - Xiaosong Li
- Department of Chemistry, University of Washington , Seattle, Washington 98195, United States
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