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Tracking the coherent generation of polaron pairs in conjugated polymers.

ABSTRACT: The optical excitation of organic semiconductors not only generates charge-neutral electron-hole pairs (excitons), but also charge-separated polaron pairs with high yield. The microscopic mechanisms underlying this charge separation have been debated for many years. Here we use ultrafast two-dimensional electronic spectroscopy to study the dynamics of polaron pair formation in a prototypical polymer thin film on a sub-20-fs time scale. We observe multi-period peak oscillations persisting for up to about 1?ps as distinct signatures of vibronic quantum coherence at room temperature. The measured two-dimensional spectra show pronounced peak splittings revealing that the elementary optical excitations of this polymer are hybridized exciton-polaron-pairs, strongly coupled to a dominant underdamped vibrational mode. Coherent vibronic coupling induces ultrafast polaron pair formation, accelerates the charge separation dynamics and makes it insensitive to disorder. These findings open up new perspectives for tailoring light-to-current conversion in organic materials.

SUBMITTER: De Sio A

PROVIDER: S-EPMC5155154 | biostudies-literature | 2016 Dec

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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Tracking the coherent generation of polaron pairs in conjugated polymers.

De Sio Antonietta A Troiani Filippo F Maiuri Margherita M Réhault Julien J Sommer Ephraim E Lim James J Huelga Susana F SF Plenio Martin B MB Rozzi Carlo Andrea CA Cerullo Giulio G Molinari Elisa E Lienau Christoph C

Nature communications 20161208

The optical excitation of organic semiconductors not only generates charge-neutral electron-hole pairs (excitons), but also charge-separated polaron pairs with high yield. The microscopic mechanisms underlying this charge separation have been debated for many years. Here we use ultrafast two-dimensional electronic spectroscopy to study the dynamics of polaron pair formation in a prototypical polymer thin film on a sub-20-fs time scale. We observe multi-period peak oscillations persisting for up ...[more]

PMID: 27929115

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Project description:Semiconducting polymers are versatile materials for solar energy conversion and have gained popularity as photocatalysts for sunlight-driven hydrogen production. Organic polymers often contain residual metal impurities such as palladium (Pd) clusters that are formed during the polymerization reaction, and there is increasing evidence for a catalytic role of such metal clusters in polymer photocatalysts. Using transient and operando optical spectroscopy on nanoparticles of F8BT, P3HT, and the dibenzo[b,d]thiophene sulfone homopolymer P10, we demonstrate how differences in the time scale of electron transfer to Pd clusters translate into hydrogen evolution activity optima at different residual Pd concentrations. For F8BT nanoparticles with common Pd concentrations of >1000 ppm (>0.1 wt %), we find that residual Pd clusters quench photogenerated excitons via energy and electron transfer on the femto-nanosecond time scale, thus outcompeting reductive quenching. We spectroscopically identify reduced Pd clusters in our F8BT nanoparticles from the microsecond time scale onward and show that the predominant location of long-lived electrons gradually shifts to the F8BT polymer when the Pd content is lowered. While a low yield of long-lived electrons limits the hydrogen evolution activity of F8BT, P10 exhibits a substantially higher hydrogen evolution activity, which we demonstrate results from higher yields of long-lived electrons due to more efficient reductive quenching. Surprisingly, and despite the higher performance of P10, long-lived electrons reside on the P10 polymer rather than on the Pd clusters in P10 particles, even at very high Pd concentrations of 27000 ppm (2.7 wt %). In contrast, long-lived electrons in F8BT already reside on Pd clusters before the typical time scale of hydrogen evolution. This comparison shows that P10 exhibits efficient reductive quenching but slow electron transfer to residual Pd clusters, whereas the opposite is the case for F8BT. These findings suggest that the development of even more efficient polymer photocatalysts must target materials that combine both rapid reductive quenching and rapid charge transfer to a metal-based cocatalyst.

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Tracking the coherent generation of polaron pairs in conjugated polymers.

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Tracking the coherent generation of polaron pairs in conjugated polymers.

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