Ultrafast photoinduced electron transfer in coumarin 343 sensitized TiO2-colloidal solution

Abstract

Photoinduced electron transfer from organic dye molecules to semiconductor nanoparticles is the first and most important reaction step for the mechanism in the so called "wet solar cells" [1]. The time scale between the photoexcitation of the dye and the electron injection into the conduction band of the semiconductor colloid varies from a few tens of femtoseconds to nanoseconds, depending on the specific electron transfer parameters of the system, e.g., electronic coupling or free energy values of donor and acceptor molecules [2-10]. We show that visible pump/ white light probe is a very efficient tool to investigate the electron injection reaction allowing to observe simultaneously the relaxation of the excited dye, the injection process of the electron, the cooling of the injected electron and the charge recombination reaction.