Molecular-structure control of ultrafast electron injection at cationic porphyrin-CdTe quantum dot interfaces

Shawkat M. Aly, Ghada H. Ahmed, Basamat S. Shaheen, Jingya Sun, Omar F. Mohammed*

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

35 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

Charge transfer (CT) at donor (D)/acceptor (A) interfaces is central to the functioning of photovoltaic and light-emitting devices. Understanding and controlling this process on the molecular level has been proven to be crucial for optimizing the performance of many energy-challenge relevant devices. Here, we report the experimental observations of controlled on/off ultrafast electron transfer (ET) at cationic porphyrin-CdTe quantum dot (QD) interfaces using femto- and nanosecond broad-band transient absorption (TA) spectroscopy. The time-resolved data demonstrate how one can turn on/off the electron injection from porphyrin to the CdTe QDs. With careful control of the molecular structure, we are able to tune the electron injection at the porphyrin-CdTe QD interface from zero to very efficient and ultrafast. In addition, our data demonstrate that the ET process occurs within our temporal resolution of 120 fs, which is one of the fastest times recorded for organic photovoltaics.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)791-795
Number of pages5
JournalJournal of Physical Chemistry Letters
Volume6
Issue number5
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 5 Mar 2015
Externally publishedYes

Keywords

  • CdTe quantum dots
  • cationic porphyrin
  • femtochemistry
  • interfacial charge transfer
  • time-resolved laser spectroscopy

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