Charge separation and recombination in small band gap oligomer-fullerene triads

Magnetic-Field-Induced Modulation of Charge-Recombination Dynamics in a Rosarin-Fullerene Complex

Charge-recombination processes are critical for photovoltaic applications and should be suppressed for efficient charge transport. Here, we report that an applied magnetic field (0-1 T) can be used control the charge-recombination dynamics in an expanded rosarin-C₆₀ complex. In the low magnetic field regime (<100 mT), the charge-recombination rate slows down due to hyperfine coupling, as inferred from transient absorption spectroscopic analyses. In contrast, in the high field regime, i.e., over 500 mT, the charge-recombination rate recovers and increases because the Δg mechanism facilitates spin conversion to a triplet charge-separated state (S to T₀ ) that undergoes rapid charge-recombination to a localized rosarin triplet state. Therefore, we highlight the charge-recombination rate and the localized triplet state population can be modulated by the magnetic field in charge donor/acceptor non-covalent complexes.

Triplet excited state properties in variable gap π-conjugated donor-acceptor-donor chromophores

A series of variable band-gap donor-acceptor-donor (DAD) chromophores capped with platinum(ii) acetylide units has been synthesized and fully characterized by electrochemical and photophysical methods, with particular emphasis placed on probing triplet excited state properties. A counter-intuitive trend of increasing fluorescence quantum efficiency and lifetime with decreasing excited state energy (optical gap) is observed across the series of DAD chromophores. Careful study of the excited state dynamics, including triplet yields (as inferred from singlet oxygen sensitization), reveals that the underlying origin of the unusual trend in the fluorescence parameters is that the singlet-triplet intersystem crossing rate and yield decrease with decreasing optical gap. It is concluded that the rate of intersystem crossing decreases as the LUMO is increasingly localized on the acceptor unit in the DAD chromophore, and this result is interpreted as arising because the extent of spin-orbit coupling induced by the platinum heavy metal centers decreases as the LUMO is more localized on the acceptor. In addition to the trend in intersystem crossing, the results show that the triplet decay rates follow the Energy Gap Law correlation over a 1.8 eV range of triplet energy and 1000-fold range of triplet decay rates. Finally, femtosecond transient absorption studies for the DAD chromophores reveals a strong absorption in the near-infrared region which is attributed to the singlet excited state. This spectral band appears to be general for DAD chromophores, and may be a signature of the charge transfer (CT) singlet excited state.

Controlling charge separation and recombination by chemical design in donor–acceptor dyads

Conjugated donor–acceptor block co-oligomers that self-organize into D–A mesomorphic arrays have raised increasing interest due to their potential applications in organic solar cells.

Probing charge transfer in benzodifuran-C60 dumbbell-type electron donor-acceptor conjugates: ground- and excited-state assays

Rigid electron donor-acceptor conjugates (1-3) that combine π-extended benzodifurans as electron donors and C60 molecules as electron acceptors with different linkers have been synthesized and investigated with respect to intramolecular charge-transfer events. Electrochemistry, fluorescence, and transient absorption measurements revealed tunable and structure-dependent charge-transfer processes in the ground and excited states. Our experimental findings are underpinned by density-functional theory calculations.