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Lookup NU author(s): Emeritus Professor Anthony Harriman
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An artificial light-harvesting array, comprising 21 discrete chromophores arranged in a rational manner, has been synthesized and characterized fully. The design strategy follows a convergent approach that leads to a molecular-scale funnel, having an effective chromophore concentration of 0.6 M condensed into ca. 55 nm(3), able to direct the excitation energy to a focal point. A cascade of electronic energy-transfer steps occurs from the rim to the focal point, with the rate slowing down as the exciton moves toward its ultimate target. Situated midway along each branch of the V-shaped array, two chromophoric relays differ only slightly in terms of their excitation energies, and this situation facilitates reverse energy transfer. Thus, the excitation energy becomes spread around the array, a situation reminiscent of a giant holding pattern for the photon that can sample many different chromophores before being trapped by the terminal acceptor. At high photon flux under conditions of relatively slow off-load to a device, such as a solar cell, electronic energy transfer encounters one or more barriers that hinder forward progress of the exciton and thereby delays arrival of the second photon. Preliminary studies have addressed the ability of the array to function as a sensitizer for amorphous silicon solar cells.
Author(s): Ziessel R, Ulrich G, Haefele A, Harriman A
Publication type: Article
Publication status: Published
Journal: Journal of the American Chemical Society
Year: 2013
Volume: 135
Issue: 30
Pages: 11330-11344
Print publication date: 31/07/2013
Online publication date: 03/07/2013
ISSN (print): 0002-7863
ISSN (electronic): 1520-5126
Publisher: American Chemical Society
URL: http://dx.doi.org/10.1021/ja4049306
DOI: 10.1021/ja4049306
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